The New Nanny
by Picklesand
Summary: The year is 1982 and a six-year-old Maura Isles gets a new nanny. For the first time in her life Maura feels like someone understands her. This story chronicles the relationship between Maura and this new person in her life, with ups and down. This is a coming of age story for Maura. Please give it a chance.
1. The Interview

**As my summary states this was intended as a one-shot but I got a bit carried away with ideas with this story. This first chapter may be a bit boring but I definitely have a plan in mind. My chapters maybe kinda short as I'm just getting used to writing creatively again. I hope you enjoy.**

/

Maura Isles, Age 6 (1982)

Maura sat on the wooden steps of the back staircase in her house eavesdropping as her mother was interviewing candidates to be her nanny.

Maura didn't understand why she needed one anyway, she had basically taken care of herself for the past two years as her previous, now retired, would often fall asleep.

Maura listened for nearly four hours as the six candidates scheduled for interviews came into her house. She didn't really like any of them and judging by the way her mother spoke she didn't think she liked them either. As Maura was about to get up to greet her mother for the first time that day, she heard a knock at the door. She sat back down to hear her mother answer.

"Hello my name is Gia, I am here for the nanny position, you must be Mrs. Isles" a voice spoke.

"Yes, I am Constance Isles but I am no longer taking interviews for the day."

A look of surprise and excitement spread across Gia's face "You are THE Constance Isles, I saw your installment at the New York Museum of art in the fall of '74 about the Watergate Scandal... It's the reason why I want to be an artist today. You made such a bold and courageous statement about our government."

Proving the old adage that flattery will get you everywhere Constance abandoned her previous statement and welcomed Gia into the house.

"Gia, dear, are you currently attending school?"

"I've just graduated actually, l've spent the last four years at the Rhode Island school of design with my concentration in metal work."

"Metal work, how fascinating. You see so few women pursue that medium."

The two spoke for a lengthy time about art, finding many commonalities between them, until Gia switched the topic to focus on her experience in working with children.

"I am the oldest of five and was the resident babysitter in my neighborhood growing up in Philadelphia. I've spent the last four years nannying in Rhode Island for a family with three boys and a girl. My approach in tending to children comes from being a big sister, I'm authoritative, but approachable and strict but fun and fair.

Maura listened to Gia speak and instantly liked her, she had this cool gravely voice that seemed to counter balance the stuffy voices of the previous candidates. She was also very pretty with her big blue eyes and chestnut colored hair, Maura thought she was the most beautiful woman she has ever seen.

Constance responded "Well, I can tell you that my daughter is very well mannered so you'll have no trouble with getting her to do her homework or practice for any of her extracurricular activities." Constance's voice became low. " I must let you know she can seem to be a rather peculiar child at times and is a bit withdrawn, she doesn't have many friends. I was hoping to find someone to help her come out of her shell a bit."

When her mothers voice got low Maura walked out into the hallway and crawled underneath a small table.

Gia spotted her and smiled. "Mrs. Isles, Maura sounds like a wonderful young lady, I find that the shy and quiet kids are often the ones with the most to offer in this world."

Upon hearing this, Maura smiled back and lifted her head, hitting it on the table. She rubbed her head and quickly retreated to the steps wanting to remain unnoticed by her mother.

"I have a good feeling about you Gia, when can you start?"

"How about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow would be perfect, I will tell Maura about you tonight."

"That sounds like a good plan, I will see you both tomorrow, thank you Mrs. Isles."

When Constance showed Gia to the door, Maura ran up stairs to the window of her room to watch her leave.

As Gia made her way back to her car she felt that she was being watched, she turned around and looked up to see Maura at her window. She waved to the curious little girl who waved back.

"Maybe having a new nanny wouldn't be so bad after all" Maura thought to herself.

/

**_Should I stop or keep going? Reviews are welcome :)_**


	2. The First Day

**Hello everyone I just wanted to say thank you for all the reviews, follows, and favorites. It really means a lot to me that you have taken an interest in this story. My main concern right now is making these characters believable, especially Maura because she is an already an established character in R&I. I also apologize if my writing style is distracting, I'm still getting used to this. Also I'm trying my best with the grammar.**

**I forgot the disclaimer in the last chapter so I'll put it here. I don't own them just borrowing them.**

**Hope you enjoy**

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The first day

Gia knocked on the door of the Isles residence at 6:30 in the morning.

Constance opened the door, she was obviously in a rush. "Gia, come in, Maura is just getting ready for school. Make sure she eats breakfast. The bus should be here by 7:15. She has a private violin lesson after school, so you will need to pick her up at 4:30. Make sure she follows her evening routine when she gets home, she'll fill you in about that. Her bedtime is at 8:00 but I won't be home until 10:00. I made a key for you it's on the kitchen table."

"Sure thing Mrs. Isles, have a good day"

"You too, dear" Constance responded and then left.

Gia made her way to the kitchen intending to make Maura's breakfast. She was surprised to see that the little girl was already sitting at the table eating oatmeal.

"Hey Maura, I'm Gia" she put her hand on the little girl's shoulder.

Maura jumped slightly and moved away from Gia's touch. Gia in turn immediately retracted her hand. "I know, my mother told me about you," Maura responded.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you" Gia offered a sincere apology.

Maura felt bad for her reaction and thought to herself "Why do I have to be so weird, she was just trying to be nice." She couldn't bring herself to look at Gia, so she just stared at her oatmeal.

"Is my mother still here?"

"She just left."

"Oh."

There was an awkward silence, until Gia spoke again.

"I brought my waffle maker over... I wasn't sure if you had one... wasn't sure if you even liked them... I don't know I just assumed I'd be the one making your breakfast."

"I can manage." Maura responded in a low voice, her eyes still focused on her oatmeal.

"Okay" Gia responded, she was extremely uncertain about how to proceed from there. Thankfully the school bus arrived outside and beeped.

Maura put her bowl in the sink and rushed out the door.

"Have a good day" Gia called after her.

Gia felt weird about being in the home after the residents had left. Since she was given no other responsibilities to fill the time between now and picking Maura up, she decided to head back to her apartment. She grabbed the key from the kitchen table and left.

When Gia arrived back at her apartment, she called her old roommate from freshman year of college, before her friend transferred schools to study psychology. The two remain very close.

"Hello" the voice on the phone spoke.

"Val... It's Gia."

"Gia, I'm so happy you called, I need a break from this paper, grad school sucks... Wait, aren't you supposed to be at work right now, taking care of the daughter of your idol."

"I'm on a lunch break I guess."

"It's 8:00 a.m."

"I'm considering it a perk."

"So what's she like?"

"Brilliant, but busy, I think she's working from her studio today, I should find a reason to drop by."

"I meant the kid."

"Oh Maura? She seems like she's a good kid, easy, really quiet, she did something kinda weird though."

"What?"

"Ya know, just because you are going to school for child psych doesn't mean you have to over analyze everything children do."

"Really? I thought that's exactly what it meant," Valerie laughed. "Tell me, maybe I can help."

"She flinched and backed away when I put my hand on her shoulder."

"Did you surprise her?"

"I don't think so, I mean I said 'Hi' first."

::Silence::

"Val?" "Hello"

"Sorry, I was just thinking."

"About?"

Gia could hear the hesitation in Valerie's voice. "It sounds like abuse."

"I don't think she's beating her Val," Gia responded.

"There are other kinds of abuse G, what did their interactions seem like?"

"Constance left as soon as I arrived, Maura seemed to be unaware until I told her."

"She left without saying good bye? That's a bit... Cold"

"She was busy, maybe she forgot, I don't know but the forty five minutes I spent with the kid this morning were awkward. What am I supposed to do for the three plus hours with her tonight?"

"Just be yourself. Let her be herself. Try to accept her and get to know her."

"That doesn't seem too hard."

"That's it, you've got this. Well thanks for the distraction G, I love you and I miss you. Good luck.

"Aw Val, I love you and miss you too. Good luck with the paper."

Gia hangs up.

/

At 4:30

Gia sat in her car outside of Maura's school waiting for her to get out. In a rush of commotion the doors of the school bust open as several kids make their way to their parents cars. Most of the kids were wearing jerseys and carrying sports equipment but a few were still in their school uniforms carrying instrument cases and music sheets. Maura was the latter.

Gia watched as the golden blonde made her way down the steps, then stop suddenly when she reached the bottom. Maura seemed to be focused on something that was on the ground. She knelt down in the grass besides the steps of her school. Maura was soon joined by a group of three older girls in their soccer uniforms. "Ewww, freak" Gia heard one of the girls say. Then she saw her shove Maura, while the other two laughed. At this moment Gia leaped from her car and arrived on the scene so quickly that everyone was surprised.

"Maura are you ok?"

Maura nodded.

"Can I help you?" She addressed the main bully.

"Who the hell are you?" The bully asked with an attitude.

"I'm Gia Sparks, and you're out of line"

"Yeah well, she's the one playing with a dead bird, it's disgusting" the bully answered still giving an attitude.

"Wow sounds to me like you are too scared to touch it yourself and are embarrassed, that a younger, smaller girl has more guts than you do." Gia responded.

"Nu-uh I could touch it," the bully said nervously.

"Well then go ahead" Gia called the girl's bluff.

"I don't want to, right now."

"Just as I thought... All talk, you and your followers better leave before you embarrass yourselves any further." Gia made a sweeping hand gesture shooing them away.

The bullies, dumbfounded left the situation immediately.

"Com'on Maura, let's get you home," Gia offered her hand to help the little girl rise to her feet and to Gia's surprise Maura accepted, and then didn't let go.

"Actually that girl and I have the same amount of intestines" Maura said.

"What?" Gia responded in confusion.

"When you said I had more guts than she did."

"I meant braver than her."

"Oh, thank you, and thank you for not getting mad about the bird, I just wanted to see what happened to it... and thank you for standing up for me." Maura squeezed Gia's hand.

"Well... what happened to the bird?"

"His neck was broken, poor thing"

Gia smiled at Maura, who didn't let go of Gia's hand until they got to the car.

/

When they arrived at the Isles residence, Gia let Maura in and she immediately ran to her room to do her homework.

Maura entered the kitchen an hour later to find a place at the table set for her. Gia had spent the past hour making waffles.

"Perfect timing Maura, what would you like on your waffles, I have blueberries, strawberries, bananas, walnuts, whipped cream..." Gia continued to list more toppings until being cut off by Maura.

"Waffles, for dinner?" The tone had a mixture of delightful surprise and confusion.

"My family called it Brinner, ya know breakfast plus dinner"

Maura laughed at the new word "Brinner." She sat at the place set up for her. "I would like bananas and strawberries please." Gia fixed Maura's plate according to her specifications, then placed it in front of Maura.

Maura took a bite of her waffles. "Gia this is delicious."

"Well thank you," Gia put her hand on the top of her chest in a stylistic gesture that suggests that she is confident in her talents, yet flattered at the same time. "I consider myself to be somewhat of an expert in the art of waffle making."

Maura smiled at the woman taking in her unique and genuine personality.

Gia started to clean the kitchen from the organized mess she had made.

"Aren't you going to join me?" Maura asked, padding the seat next to her.

"You know what? I think I will." Gia grabbed a plate and sat next to Maura.

The two ate while Maura talked about her homework.

"That was so good Gia."

"I could tell, you ate three waffles."

"Thank you... I need to practice my violin now."

"Do you mind if I listen to you, it's been a while since I heard someone play violin?"

"Sure, just let me get set up." Maura went to her room to grab her things.

Gia cleaned the kitchen and then met Maura in the living room.

"I've only started last year, sorry if I'm not that good," Maura said nervously.

"I'm sure you're great," Gia responded in a encouraging tone.

Maura played a few songs as Gia sat listening intently.

"Okay Gia, I have one last song, it's my favorite, because it's lovely and it's the one I play the best."

Maura closed her eyes as she drew her bow across the violin producing the beginning sounds to Scarborough Fair. Her eyes remained closed until she finished the entire piece, perfectly. It wasn't until she opened them that she realized that Gia was crying.

"Are you ok?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. You play beautifully, Maura," Gia said wiping away her tears. "It's time for you to get ready for bed, I'll be up to say goodnight in ten minutes."

Maura was worried that she had done something wrong but did as Gia instructed.

Gia used the ten minutes to calm down and regain her composure using the breathing techniques that Val gave her when she studied for finals.

As promised, Gia went upstairs to say goodnight to Maura and tuck her into bed.

"Sweet dreams, Maura, I'll see you tomorrow"

"Thank you, Gia."

Gia sat downstairs flipping through magazines on the coffee table until Constance arrived home.

"Was she any trouble?"

"She was great, she is great, see you tomorrow."

Gia left in a hurry, and started to cry again when she got in her car.

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**Hope you like it so far, reviews are obviously appreciated but not necessary. Thank you again for reading. :)**


	3. Halloween

**Thank you again to anyone who reviewed, favorited, or followed. It means a lot to me and I appreciate it. All questions will be answered at the end but I like that you are asking them. Thank you for having an open mind about this story, you are all awesome.**

**As mentioned before I'm only renting the characters.**

**I'm really trying with the grammar.**

**Hope you enjoy :)**

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It had been a month and a half since Gia had started working for the Isles family in mid-September. During this time she had become closer to Maura after bonding that first day. The two fell into a comfortable routine, eating meals together and Gia listening to Maura play violin. They were often left to their own devices since Constance had been commissioned to create a new installment about the current political climate and was absent almost everyday.

Sunday, October 31st 1982

"Maura sweetie you're going to be late," Gia called from downstairs.

After a few minutes of not hearing an answer, Gia decided to investigate as to what was taking this normally punctual six year old so long.

Gia stood in the doorway of Maura's room. "Interesting choice of hairstyle"

"I tried to do French braids," Maura responded in disappointed tone.

Gia entered the room and put her bag down on Maura's bed.

"Ah well, you get an A for effort, but it is hard to do a hairstyle that requires eyes in the back of your head." Gia laughed as she approached Maura who was sitting at her vanity. "May I?

"I guess so," Maura responded defeated by her lack of skill.

Gia started to gently untangle the little girls hair. Maura remembered how her previous nanny would often pull and rush while doing her hair but Gia took her time. When all of her hair was untangled Gia brushed it then separated it into two parts. She worked on the first braid and then tied it off at the end. Then she worked on the second braid and did the same. Maura ran her fingers across the braids. They were perfect.

"I have a great idea" Gia beamed. She ran to her bag "Pink, purple, or yellow?" she said, as she held three spools of ribbon.

"Purple, please" Maura responded. Gia grabbed her scissors and cut two pieces of purple ribbon from the spool. She tied each piece into a bow at the end of each of Maura's braids.

When Gia was finished, she leaned over and put her face next to Maura's, so they both were looking in the mirror, and smiled. "There we go."

"Thank you" Maura said.

"No, thank you kiddo for letting me help you, but we should really get going, you are dangerously close to being late." Gia grabbed her bag from Maura's bed and headed for the door.

"Gia?"

"Yes, Maura"

"I... I love you," Maura stated as she looked at the only person who she felt truly understood her.

Gia could feel her heart swell, she walked back over to Maura and wrapped her arms around the little girl resting her chin lightly on top Maura's head. "I love you too, Peanut."

Gia went down stairs and walked outside to wait in her car for Maura. She felt honored that this amazing little girl loved her, it had been a long time since she has heard those words from anyone besides her best friend Valerie. She then became worried if saying such a thing was professional after all she was employed by this family, what if it saying "I love you" was inappropriate? She didn't have much time to dwell on this as she was soon joined by Maura, dressed in her leotard and tights.

"Can we listen to that mix tape you made last week?" Maura asked with excitement.

"Sure," Gia popped the tape in her car's cassette player.

"We Got the Beat," by the GoGos began to play. Maura danced and sang in the passenger seat as Gia drove her to her ballet lesson. Gia smiled as she thought about how Maura originally wasn't a fan of her music and now enjoys it so much that she is singing and dancing.

As Gia pulled up to Maura's ballet studio, she noticed that the other children were dressed in costumes.

"Oh man, I forgot today was Halloween, you don't have a costume," Gia said feeling bad that she let something this important slip her mind.

"It's ok Gia, I don't really like Halloween"

"What? Trick or Treating, the candy, what's not to like?"

"I've never been trick or treating" Maura said looking down at her feet.

"Are you kidding me, you mean your mother never took you? Gia was stunned as Maura just shook her head. "That's it! We are going tonight, you and me, but where am I going to find you a costume, what would you want to be?"

"Can I be anyone I want?" Said Maura curiously.

"Anyone." Gia responded.

"Then I'd like to be Marie Curie, the chemist and physicist who was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize. She won two actually, and to this day she is the only person who has won for multiple sciences." Maura said.

"Good choice Peanut, very original. How long is your lesson today?" Gia asked hoping she had enough time to prepare for the night.

"Two hours" Maura stated.

"Okay I think I can figure something out between now and then. I'll see you at 4:00," Gia said as Maura exited the car.

/

Gia quickly rushed to the library to research Marie Curie for Maura's costume. Most of the pictures she found featured the woman wearing a black dress that was ankle length, with long sleeves, and a high neckline. Gia thought about the stylish dresses in Maura's closet and decided that a trip to the thrift shop was necessary to properly pull off this look.

Gia really lucked out at the thrift shop and because of her keen artistic eye she was able to pull together a costume almost effortlessly. She found a dress, a brooch and a pair of simple black lace-up boots. The dress was a bit big, but she had planned for this already, and was thankful that she had her sewing machine in her car. Gia finished just in time to pick up Maura.

/

"How'd it go, Peanut?"

"Okay, I guess, actually I couldn't wait for it to be over, I can't wait to go trick or treating," Maura was very excited.

When the two arrived back at the Isles residence, they immediately rushed to Maura's room to work on the costume.

"Hold still," Gia said as she was pinning the dress to make alterations. Maura did as instructed staying as still as a statue. When she had finished making the alterations, Gia used her sewing machine to finalize the changes that were made.

Maura put the dress on and Gia fixed a brooch to sit at the bottom of Maura's neck. Maura admired the how the once loose and long dress now fit perfectly.

"You are quite the seamstress, Gia!" Maura said clearly impressed with Gia's skill.

"My first semester at RISD I was a clothing design major, but then I took a metal work class as an elective... And the rest is history," Gia said as she removed one of Maura's pillows from its case and handed it to her. "This is for your candy."

"Ok, Peanut take a seat," Gia instructed as she gestured towards Maura's vanity.

Maura sat as Gia stood behind her, unravelling the braids she did that afternoon. Gia then styled the golden blonde hair into a whispy bun to complete the look. As Gia worked with the same amount of care she that she had earlier that afternoon, Maura couldn't help but wonder if this was what IT was supposed to feel like with her mother. If Gia's care and genuine concern for her well being was felt by other little girls from their mothers. This time Maura pulled Gia down so they were both looking in the mirror. She hugged Gia pressing her cheek to Gia's cheek. "Thank you so much, Gia."

Gia's eyes began to water, "You look great, Peanut."

Maura liked her new nickname, she knew that other kids had them, this was her first one and it was special, because it meant that she belonged.

/

As the two arrived at the first house for the evening, Maura hesitated at knocking at the door, "What if they ask for a trick? What do I do?"

"Don't worry, they won't... Go ahead," Gia responded.

Maura knocked and a man dressed as Frankenstein answered. "Hey little lady."

"Trick or treat," Maura responded melodically, holding open her pillow case. Frankenstein put a bite-sized bag of M&Ms into it.

"Thank you, Happy Halloween," Maura responded.

The two walked around for four blocks hitting every house with the lights on, until Maura had a pillow case filled with candy.

"I'm getting tired," Maura yawned as she rubbed her eyes.

Gia picked the little girl up and Maura put her arms around her nestling her head into Gia's neck. Maura was asleep within seconds. Gia walked back to the Isles residence letting her thoughts replay the events of that day, and the last six weeks. It happened suddenly and unexpectedly; without warning this little girl became her entire world.

When Gia arrived at the house she walked up stairs carefully with Maura still sleeping in her arms. She helped the sleepy little girl put on her pajamas before tucking her into bed. As Gia turned to leave the room. She heard a small voice.

"Gia?"

"Yes, Peanut?"

"Promise me you'll always stay."

Gia swallowed hard she knew in her mind that she couldn't make that promise but her heart spoke with out reservation, "I promise."

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**_Reviews are most certainly welcome, I like knowing what you think._**

**_Have a splendid day :)_**


	4. Black Friday

**Hello everyone, sorry this update was late, well later than I wanted it to be. I had some trouble making it fit at first, but I think that the section, the day after Thanksgiving is my favorite so far. I hope I haven't lost any of you, and I appreciate anyone who has taken the time to review, favorite, or follow this story or me. Hope you enjoy :)**

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_Wednesday, November 24th 1982, Thanksgiving Eve_

Gia enters the Isles residence at 2:30 to pick up a heavier jacket for Maura because she intended to take her to the park after school. There she saw Constance who was home at an unusually early time. Gia was surprised.

"Gia, I'm glad I caught you, I will be picking Maura up from school today. I'm giving you tomorrow off, I assume you would want to spend the holiday with your family. I will however need you back in the evening on Friday, I am leaving for New York to present my new installment. I will be gone for the next five days, you will need to stay here at the house with Maura overnight."

"Uh... Yeah, sure, see you then. Oh Happy Thanksgiving, and tell Maura I said so too."

Constance wishes Gia the same sentiments and then Gia leaves.

/

Maura walked quickly as she exited her school building, as much as she loved school, she welcomed the small break. She was excited to catch up on her reading, practice her violin, but most of all spend more time with Gia. As she surveyed the parking lot, looking for Gia's car, she spotted her mothers.

"Hello Mom, why are you here? Did something happen to Gia? Is she ok? There was genuine concern in Maura's voice.

"She's fine Dear, I gave her the holiday to spend with her family."

"Oh" Maura smiled at her mother. " It's nice to see you"

"I apologize for being so busy, but I wanted to spend the holiday with you before I leave for New York on Friday, Gia will be staying at the house with you until I get back." Constance responded.

Hearing that Gia would be staying over made Maura happy. During the ride home Constance mainly spoke about her new installment while Maura listened.

/

Gia arrived home to an already ringing telephone. She picked it up.

"Hello Val," Gia answered with excitement, it had been a long time since she had spoken to her best friend.

"How do you answer the phone like that?" Val chuckled, she was happy to hear her friends voice.

"Like what?"

"I mean, what if it wasn't me?"

"But it's always you, who else would it be?"

Valerie sighed,"The invitation still stands you know, my mom said you're more than welcome to join us."

"No thank you, I think I'll just catch up on some sleep" Gia replied. "Besides I'm back to work on Friday and will be working all day for the following five days."

"Wow you're really at her Beck and Call aren't you?"

"I don't mind, it's good money and I really like Maura."

"Oh she's not weird anymore?"

Gia laughs, "she's definitely weird, but in an adorable way."

"Well you better have off when I come to visit in January for your birthday."

"Of course, I can't wait to see you Val"

"My train leaves in twenty minutes, I better get to the station. I love you Gia and I miss you, take care of yourself."

"I love you too, Val, Happy Thanksgiving."

"Happy Thanksgiving Gia."

Valerie hangs up.

_Thursday, November 25th 1982, Thanksgiving_

Maura spent most of the day in her room reading and practicing her violin while Constance was busy entertaining the people who commissioned her latest installment. Maura made a few appearances before dinner was ready, but felt uncomfortable which was why she spent most of the time in her room. She was also very quiet at dinner, no one addressed her or paid much attention to her. Constance was told she had a very well behaved child.

Gia spent most of her day watching the parade and reruns of her favorite sitcoms alone in her apartment. She ordered Chinese takeout because it was the only place that was open. She retired to bed early.

_Friday, November 26th 1982_

Gia arrived at the Isles residence at 5:00pm. At this time Constance and Maura were coming home from a shopping trip. Maura's eyes lit up when she saw Gia.

"Maura, dear, take these bags inside and put them in the hallway closet," Constance said as she handed the bags to Maura. Then she kissed the top of her head, "I'll see you Wednesday."

As Maura walked to the house she playfully elbowed Gia.

"Gia, unfortunately I am running late and have to leave immediately. I have set up the guest room for you. I hope you had a good Thanksgiving with your family," Constance said before getting in her car to leave for New York.

When Gia entered the house she could hear water running, she figured Maura was taking a shower so she decided to work on dinner.

Moments later Maura came down stairs.

"A bird defecated on my head while we were shopping, I wanted to wash my hair," Maura said as she entered the kitchen.

"That's a sign of good luck." Gia laughed.

"That's a ridiculous superstition, that has no empirical evidence to support its truth," Maura responded as she sat at the island of the kitchen.

Gia laughed.

"How was Thanksgiving with your family? Maura said as watched Gia cut vegetables.

"I didn't see them," Gia responded not looking up.

"They must have missed you. You have siblings right?"

"Yeah, I had three sisters and a brother" Gia responded, again not looking up at Maura.

"Had?"

"They died... Along with my parents... In a car accident while coming to visit me in Rhode Island." Gia finally looked up, her eyes became watery but she smiled at Maura as she continued making her dinner.

"Oh I'm sorry." Maura looked down. She felt bad for upsetting Gia.

"Hey it's ok, you didn't know."

There was silence for a few minutes except for the sound of the knife on the the cutting board.

"Oh shiitake mushrooms, "Gia sucked in her breath suddenly and cupped her left hand with the right. Her breathing was short and quick.

Maura looked up when she heard Gia "Did you cut, yourself?" Seeing that Gia was panicking, Maura grabbed some paper towels and helped her to a seat. Quickly wrapping the paper towels around Gia's left hand, she instructed, "Apply pressure and keep the wound above your heart" as she gently lifted Gia's left arm by her elbow. "I'll be right back okay?" Maura quickly ran to her room to grab her first aide kit.

Maura rushed back into the kitchen so quickly that she tripped over her own feet tumbling to the floor. Before Gia could react, Maura sprang up "I'm okay" and made her way over to the kitchen table. She placed the first aide kit next to her and held out both of her hands palms up. "May I take a look please?" Gia was amused. "Okay Dr. Peanut," Gia gave Maura her hand that was covered in blood and wrapped in paper towels.

Maura delicately removed the bloody paper towels from around Gia's hand. The wound was still steadily releasing blood. "This is pretty deep Gia, you may need to go to the hospital."

"Uh... Yeah that's not going to happen, I don't have health insurance" Gia responded.

A look of confusion fell upon Maura's face, for all her worldliness at six years old there were still some concepts that were beyond her grasp.

"Just hand me a few band-aids, it will be fine" Gia continued.

"You're gonna need more than a few band-aids, Gia." Maura re-wrapped Gia's cut with new paper towels. "We need to wash the area." Maura rose from her seat, taking Gia by the hand and guiding her to the sink. Maura grabbed a foot stool so she would be able to have a proper view of the cut. She turned on the water and washed her hands first. Then she unwrapped Gia's finger and ran it under the water. Gia winced slightly. "Sorry" Maura responded seeing the pain in Gia's face. "It's okay" Gia responded, "You're fine... I'm fine". When she was satisfied with the thorough rinsing, Maura stepped down from the stool and lead Gia back to the table to dress the wound.

"The bleeding appears to have subsided, but you seemed to have lost a lot, do you feel light-headed?" Maura asked as she applied antibacterial ointment to Gia's cut. "I feel okay, thank you, Maura." Gia watched the little girl diligently wrapping gauze and medical tape around her finger. "Where did you learn how to do this?"

"Books mostly" Maura respond, still focused on the task at hand. "This is my first time actually doing it."

"Wow, you're a natural, Doc" Gia responded genuinely impressed with the six year old's skill.

Maura smiled. "I did my best but it will probably leave a scar."

Gia chuckled "It's one I can add to my collection." Gia pulled up the sleeve over her left arm and showed Maura a burn on her forearm. "I got this one my sophomore year at RISD, I was working on this sculpture made entirely of bike chains and one of links melted off while I was welding and slid down my sleeve." Maura reached over and traced the scar tissue that went from Gia's wrist to her elbow, "Wow, looks like a full thickness second degree burn." "Yeah it was pretty painful" Gia responded.

Next Gia pulled up her pant leg up to just above her knee revealing a scar just under the cap. "Junior year of high school, varsity softball championships, broken glass sliding into third base. I still managed to run home when my friend Val hit a grand slam. Maura also traced this scar "That must have been deep, you probably shouldn't have ran with your knee bleeding like that." Gia put her arm around Maura, she found the little girls concern for her well being to be very endearing.

Gia continued to document her scars sweeping the bangs from her forehead to reveal one just below her hairline. "Sledding, I'm eleven years old, my youngest sister, Allie, jumps on top of me as I start going down the hill at this huge golf course. We are going so fast and she is scared, screaming at the top of her lungs, at one point she grabs onto my face covering my eyes so I can't steer the sled. We end up in a shallow ditch and I end up with one of her front teeth sticking out of my forehead. She gets a visit from the tooth fairy that night and I get stitches." Gia smiled at the memory that now was bittersweet. Maura kissed the scar on Gia's forehead.

"Tell me more about them" Maura blurted. "That is if you want to"

"Uh, maybe another time Dr. Peanut," Gia responded as she pulled Maura closer and then promptly changed the subject. "What should we do for dinner now?"

"Pizza," Maura responded with a smile.

"Then pizza it shall be," Gia responded.

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**_Well what do you think. Reviews are always welcome and appreciated. Someone mentioned that they'd like to see a little Jane, it wasn't my plan to have her in this but I thought of a way for her to make an appearance. It won't be permanent though and won't be until a chapter or two from now. I would like your opinions on whether you'd want her in it or not._**


	5. Orphans

**Hello Everyone, your reviews for the last chapter melted my heart. I'm so glad that all of you enjoy Gia so much. I really like her too. I'm sorry this update took some time. I hit a bit of a writers block (even though I have the last couple of chapters pretty much written), then I had to help a couple of my friends through some tough times. I hope my next update won't be such a long time. I really appreciate your reviews, follows and favorites. You are all so sweet. To those of you still following me, thank you for your patience, I love this story and have no plans to abandon it. I also went back and edited the previous chapters because some of the mistakes bothered me. Here is chapter 5, I hope you enjoy, sorry if there are mistakes, it's late in my part of the earth.**

**R.I.P. Lee Thompson Young, you are missed.**

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Saturday, November 27th 1982

Maura woke up and immediately went to the guest room to see if Gia was up too. She quietly walked into the room and found Gia asleep on the bed tangled in the covers. Maura did not want to wake her, but wanted to be there when she woke up, so she ran back to her room to grab a book, then returned back to the guest room. She sat cross legged at the foot of the bed and read quietly. After about ten minutes, Gia turned and lightly kicked Maura's knee. Gia woke up when she felt her foot touch something.

Rubbing her eyes and yawning Gia spoke, "How long have you been here?"

"Not long," Maura said putting the book down.

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"I wanted you to get some sleep. You got hurt yesterday and you needed some rest, not to mention your age group has very inconsistent sleeping patterns and that's probably why you have those periorbital dark circles under your eyes." Maura responded.

Gia normally would find someone pointing out the dark circles under her eyes to be rude, but she knew that Maura didn't mean it in that way. Gia sat up and yawned once more. "You don't have ballet today, so what do you want to do?"

"Go to the library?" Maura suggested.

"Well we can do that if that's what you want, but I was thinking more like the movies?" Gia offered. "The one theater is still playing Annie, thought you'd might like to see it."

"Can I get popcorn?" Maura asked.

"0f course," Gia smiled.

"I'll go check the paper for times," Maura said excitedly.

"I'll make us some breakfast," Gia offered.

The two walked to the steps. Gia laughed as she watched Maura slide down the steps on her stomach feet first, then get up, grab the paper by the front door, and immediately run to the kitchen.

When Gia joined Maura in the kitchen she saw that the little girl was gathering the ingredients and supplies to make pancakes.

"Can I help?" Maura said eagerly.

"Sure," Gia responded.

Gia picked up the measuring cup and handed it to Maura. Gia began her instructions "We need-"

"Two cups of flour," Maura replied. "I've watched you make these many times Gia, I know your recipe by heart."

Gia watched Maura mix all of the ingredients together, smiling to herself, realizing that this little girl has learned something from her.

When Maura finished, Gia grabbed the skillet and butter, "I've got this part Peanut, you're too young to work the stove."

Maura frowned slightly, "But I want to flip the pancakes."

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, maybe next time, why don't you check the paper for the times."

Maura did as Gia asked, while Gia cooked the pancakes.

Gia sat down with the two plates, placing one in front of Maura.

"The times are 2:00pm and 8:00pm." Maura said.

"Let's see the 2:00pm show then we can grab dinner afterwards." Gia replied.

Maura nodded her head in agreement.

After the two cleaned the kitchen, they read on the couch quietly together until it was time to get ready to go.

Gia drove to the theater while Maura sang and danced to the songs on Gia's mix tape.

When they got to the theater Gia purchased the tickets and the popcorn, then the two made their way into the theater. Gia let Maura pick out the seats which were mid-theater and and mid-row, the perfect spot.

Maura loved the movie and although there was more of a focus on the relationship between Daddy Warbucks and Annie, she couldn't help but notice the relationship between Grace Farrell and Annie because Grace reminded her of Gia.

"Did you like it Peanut?"

"I really did, I was so happy that Annie had found a family for her friends and herself."

"I liked it too," Gia smiled putting her hand on the little girls shoulder. "Let's grab something to eat."

During the drive to the diner, a car that was driving erratically, cut Gia off, causing Gia to slam on the breaks. Immediately, out of reflex, Gia swung her arm out towards the passenger side to protect Maura. When everything was clear Gia quickly pulled into the nearest parking lot and was clearly in shock.

"Maura, are you ok?"

"Yes" Maura responded, looking at how scared Gia was.

Gia took a few deep breaths, "I'm sorry Maura, car stuff really freaks me out."

"It's ok Gia, we can go home, if it will make you feel better." Maura offered.

After a few more deep breaths Gia regained her composure. "We need to eat Peanut, and I want some lemon merengue pie."

Gia continued the drive to the diner cautiously.

When they got to the diner the hostess greeted them grabbing two menus and seated them in a booth. Both scanned the menu in silence until the waitress came by to take their order, both Maura and Gia ordered grilled cheeses.

"I think I might be an orphan like Annie." Maura said. "Like you too."

Gia looked confused.

"I'm adopted." Maura continued. "My mom told me that, someone gave me to her after I was born. I don't know what happened to my birth parents, but after seeing the movie I wonder if they died too."

Gia paused for a second not knowing what to say. This was the first time Maura had spoken about this. She wanted to make sure she listened, she wanted to make sure she said the right thing when Maura looked to her for support.

"I know this sounds funny but I often think about who they are or were, if they thought about me, if they loved me." Maura looked at Gia.

"Peanut, I'm sure who ever they are or were, they must have been heartbroken to give such a wonderful gift away to someone else. They must have had a good reason, perhaps to give you a better life." Gia knew that what she had said wasn't perfect, but she had no way of knowing what the perfect response would have been.

"My mom says that I was her miracle that, she couldn't have a baby so fate gave her me." Maura smiled. "I know she loves me, I just wish I saw her more."

Gia reached across the table and grabbed Maura's hand smiling sympathetically. "I know Peanut."

Maura gently wiped away the tears forming in the corners of her eyes with her sleeve. "I'm glad I have you, Gia."

Gia marveled at the youngster, she was certainly mature for her age, but Gia felt bad that she might be too grown up. Most girls her age worried about the clothes they put on their Barbies but this little girl questioned her whole existence and she was only six. "I'm happy to be here for you, Peanut."

The moment was broken by the arrival of their food. There were a few moments of silence until Gia chuckled at Maura.

"What?" Maura said smiling at Gia's laughter.

"You eat your sandwich the same way that Allie did, crusts first." Gia responded. "You are the only two people that I have ever known that do that."

"What was Allie like?" Maura inquired, she knew she had asked about Gia's family the day before but maybe if she just asked about Allie, Gia would tell her. She didn't want to upset Gia again, it was just that she was so curious about Gia and wanted to know everything about her.

Gia thought to herself, that if Maura was willing to share something so personal about her life, she should do the same, that their trust should be mutual.

"Allie was born on my seventh birthday, as a present my mom let me name her so I chose the name Allison, with the nickname of Allie. She used to follow me around wherever I went, almost up until I left for college. She was really funny and always did impressions of our neighbors and teachers at our school. She wanted to be a school nurse just like our mom, she would always steal her stethoscope and give her teddy bears check ups. She wrote me a letter everyday I was up at college, I actually got the last one five days after the accident." Gia inhaled deeply then exhaled slowly.

"She sounds like she really loved you." Maura said.

"Yeah she was my little buddy." Gia responded.

Maura wanted to ask more but didn't want to push any further, she was happy that Gia shared this much already. "How bout that lemon merengue pie? Do you mind if we share one, I think I'm almost full?" Maura asked.

"Good idea Peanut." Gia got the attention of the waitress and ordered the pie.

The dessert talk was lighter than the dinner talk with the two talking about what they might do tomorrow, Maura's last vacation day before she had to go back to school.

After finishing the pie, Gia left the payment for the bill and tip on the table and the two left.

Upon arriving back at the Isles residence Maura informed Gia that she was tired and wanted to go to bed. Gia tucked Maura in bed then went down stairs to watch so TV as it was still early, only watched TV until midnight then she went to bed.

Gia awoke from her sleep when she felt a nudge on her shoulder. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock it was 3:30 in the morning. She turned on the light, and sat up.

"Maura, honey, what's wrong?" She looked at the little girl who was holding her stomach.

"I don't feel we-" Maura started to say but couldn't finish. She had thrown up all over Gia.

"I'm so sorry," Maura began to cry.

"Peanut, Sweetheart, it's okay, you probably ate too much." She put her hands on Maura's face and realized that her she was warmer than usual and a little bit sweaty.

"Or... You could have the flu or something."

Gia was thankful that the throw up only got on her sweatshirt and not the bed or the rest of her, she was also thankful that she was wearing a tank top underneath so she could easily take it off, which she did.

She then guided Maura back to her room and helped her lay back down on the bed.

"I'll be right back." Gia said, as she kissed Maura on the forehead which seemed even warmer than moments earlier.

Gia ran to the bathroom and grabbed the trash can and two wet washcloths.

When she returned she immediately put one of the washcloths on Maura's forehead and used the other one to wipe her face. Then Gia opened up the first aid kit that Maura stored under her bed. She got out the thermometer, cleaned it off with an alcohol pad, then shook it so it wouldn't interfere with an accurate reading.

"Open" Gia said as she tapped underneath Maura's chin because her eyes were closed.

Maura opened her mouth and Gia placed the thermometer under her tongue.

"Close" Gia said, and Maura followed Gia's instructions.

After three minutes Gia checked Maura's temperature.

"102.5 degrees" Gia announced. She placed the trash can next to the side of Maura's bed. She then noticed that Maura was shivering so she recovered her with the blankets.

"Please stay here with me, Gia." Maura said weakly.

"I wasn't going to leave you, sweetheart," Gia responded as she sat in bed next to Maura gently smoothing the little girls hair in an attempt to soothe her.

Gia continued until Maura fell asleep.

Maura woke up a few more times before sunrise to throw up and made it in the trash can each time. Gia would would continue to smooth Maura's hair each time until she fell asleep again.

Maura woke up around 10:00am the next day, her stomach felt better but her body still felt weak. She looked to her left and saw that Gia was there asleep next to her. She smiled and was happy that Gia didn't leave her during the night. Still feeling weak, Maura lay back, closed her eyes, inched a bit closer to Gia and fell asleep.

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**I hope you enjoyed, once again your reviews are appreciated and they make my day. I hope you all have a splendid day :)**


	6. Tights and Trolls

**Hello everyone, this chapter may be shorter than usual but I wanted to get it out there for you because I liked it so much. Thank you again to anyone who reviewed, followed, or favorited, you make me smile :). I hope I haven't lost any of you. To all of you who love this story and are faithful readers, I cherish your support. Hope you enjoy.**

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Saturday December 4th 1982

Maura had gotten better and was back to school that following Tuesday. Her mother picked her up from school that Wednesday because Gia had fallen ill, catching the bug from Maura. Maura was upset that she was not able to take care of Gia the way Gia had taken care of her. She wanted to go to Gia's apartment, bring her ginger ale and crackers but she didn't know the address and couldn't find it when snooping in her mother's schedule book.

Gia was gone for three days, the longest time that they had spent apart since Gia started, and one day longer than she was sick. Maura wondered if she was keeping an eye on the cut on her finger, and knowing Gia's carefree nature she probably wasn't, what if it got infected?

When Gia returned the on Saturday, Maura was relieved to see her. She didn't look off color and from what she could tell the lymph nodes in her neck did not appear to be swollen. This alleviated some of her concerns but she still wanted to see the cut to make sure. She looked out the window as she watched her mother talking to Gia before leaving for the studio. She saw that the bandage on Gia's finger was multicolored and knew that she hadn't looked at it. She quickly ran to her room and grabbed her first aide kit, and then went to the kitchen.

"Aloha, Peanut," Gia said putting her arms around the little girl, who was sitting at the kitchen table reading the book that came with her first aide kit, particularly the chapter on wound infection.

Maura's eyes fell on the bandage on Gia's finger and she sighed.

Gia looked around nervously smiling out of confusion. "Is something wrong?"

Maura grabbed Gia's left wrist and pointed to the bandage with her free hand. "I told you that this cut was deep, I told you that it was serious. Do you know the risk of infection? Do you know what could happen if it got infected?"

Gia could see that Maura was upset. "I'm sure it's fine, Doc, seriously."

"I'll be the judge of that, sit down," Maura said firmly.

Gia seeing how concerned she was, did as little girl asked, if only to appease her.

As Maura unravelled the bandage her mind raced, it's not that she didn't think Gia could take care of herself, it was more that she felt that no one else looked after her. After seeing the movie Annie and thinking about how Gia was an orphan, she felt bad that Gia didn't have a family and was determined to make sure that she knew that someone cared. When Maura finally saw the cut she was relieved that it seemed to be healing better than she thought.

"See Doc, it's fine." Gia stated.

"Sorry, I over reacted." Maura responded.

"It's nice that you care so much Peanut, but I'm almost twenty-three, you don't have to worry about me like this." Gia said in attempt to help the little girl stop stressing so much.

Maura smiled at Gia. "Well at least let me teach you about proper wound care, watch closely." She cleaned the cut with an alcohol pad and put more antibacterial ointment on the cut before wrapping Gia's finger in gauze and medical tape.

"Alright Doc, I think I got it." Gia winked at Maura.

"Oh crap" Gia grabbed Maura's wrist and looked at her watch. "We've got to get you to ballet my dear."

Maura ran upstairs and changed quickly and the two got into Gia's car to go to Maura ballet class.

"Can you stay and watch me today?" Maura asked.

Gia thought for a moment. "Your mom asked me to do some shopping for her." Gia frowned slightly.

"For my Christmas presents, I know, but it's ok, I know there is no Santa Claus and, I promise I'll close my eyes when you pick up my presents in the store. I also need to go to the mall, I have a shopping list too. The mall will still be open when my lesson is over, so please come and watch me today." Maura spoke very quickly.

"I'd be delighted." Gia responded, she was a little let down that someone so young didn't believe in Santa Claus, but knowing how logical Maura was she guessed that she probably had come to that conclusion two years ago. "But you need to pinky promise me you won't peek, your mom wants you to be surprised."

"I promise," Maura said as she stuck out her pinky.

Gia locked her pinky with Maura's before the two walked into the ballet studio.

Gia watched the little girl join her class and as she sat amongst a group of women who she could only assume were the mothers of the other little girls.

"Look, the little weirdo joined the group, you know, my Jennifer said she saw her pick up a dead squirrel, what an absurd child." She heard one of the women say.

Gia tried her best to ignore the woman because if she opened her mouth she would have made a scene, Maura wasn't hearing this so she wasn't getting hurt. The woman was clearly ignorant and Gia figured she shouldn't waste her breath if she didn't have to.

Another woman joined in. "Yes well that's nothing compared to this, my daughter Hannah said that the little freak told her that she should get this mole on her back checked out because it might be cancerous, scared my little one for days, she is so morbid."

Gia really started to get upset, but took a deep breath and exhaled, knowing that saying something would only draw more attention to Maura who was clearly viewed as outcast in this environment. Gia wondered if Maura knew, and figured on some level that she must have. Gia admired the bravery that Maura had, having to endure this every Saturday.

A third woman also joined in. "Well no wonder why she was given up for adoption her real mother probably took one look at her and realized she was messed up. I feel sorry for the woman who adopted her she clearly didn't know what she was in for." The rest of the women nodded in agreement.

The last woman's words hit Gia like a punch to the jaw, and now it was clearly time to strike back. She could feel the anger bubbling up inside her as she slowly but deliberately stood and faced these women.

She spoke in a low but intimidating voice. "All of you are shallow, petty and insignificant little trolls. So insecure from your husbands cheating on you and your children disrespecting you that you feel the need to take out your verbal aggression on a little girl who has more class in her pinky nail than the seven of you combined. I would be more upset if I didn't feel so sorry for you, none of you will never ever know true happiness with such hatred in your hearts. Although I pity you, I'm also warning you. If any of you say or do anything to make that "little weirdo" or "little freak" even so much as grimace, I will come down on you so hard you won't know what hit you."

Most of the women had started to cry when Gia talked about cheating husbands and disrespectful children. This surprised Gia because her mention of this was a total shot in the dark.

One woman, the last one who insulted Maura spoke up. "That sounds like a threat."

"Oh did it? Because I didn't mean to have it come out that way. It is most definitely a promise." Gia snapped back.

The woman was speechless.

As Gia walked away to change her seat as far as she could from the women, she turned to the second one that insulted Maura. "I would really get that mole on your daughters back checked out, she tends to be right about those kind of things."

Gia was thankful that the class had not noticed her addressing the group as the students backs were to their audience and the instructor was clearly focused on her students. She was almost positive they couldn't hear her because they were behind glass and music was playing.

Gia watched the class take their places at the ballet bar. Maura waved at her furiously during the transition and Gia smiled and waved back. Gia glared at the group of women and narrowed her eyes, no one would mess with her little Peanut ever again.

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**I plan on picking up with the mall trip.**

**Reviews welcome as always. Be well and have a splendid day. :)**


	7. Mall Madness

**Hello everyone, thanks once again to all of you who reviewed, followed or favorited. You are all awesome. I hope I haven't lost any of you, kind of afraid that I might have, but I hope not. This chapter was tough for me to write in the word forming sense, so I hope I don't confuse any of you. I really tried with the grammar and the spelling, and apologize in advance for any mistakes. I hope you enjoy :)**

**Also I fixed my summary so it was more descriptive, hopefully more people with give it a chance.**

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**Saturday December 4th 1982 (continued)**

Maura exited the dance room and ran over to Gia with excitement. "Did you see my pirouette? It's the first time I did it without falling over, you must be my good luck charm."

"Pirouette' is a French word for the ballet reference 'to whirl about' or 'turn," Gia responded.

Maura already knew what the word meant but smiled that Gia announced a fact like she often did. "Did you take ballet too?"

"No but my sister did." Gia responded.

"Allie?"

Gia laughed. "Allie? No, she tried but was kicked out for trying to rough house with the girls in her class. It was Jess the one closest in age to me, she was very gifted in pointe work, got a scholarship to a performing arts high school."

"Wow, what was she like?" Maura's fascination with Gia's life never ceased. She wanted to know everything about her.

"My complete opposite but not in a bad way, although I am pretty great." Gia said playfully elbowing Maura in the ribs. "She was serious and driven, definitely the scholar of the family. You kinda remind me of her actually, she even played violin too." Gia said brushing the hair away from Maura's face with her fingers.

In the past Gia would often get upset when her siblings were bought up but talking about them with Maura felt cathartic, bringing up more happy memories than painful ones.

"Shall we like make our way to the mall and stuff," Gia said flipping her hair and doing her best Valley Girl voice."

Maura tilted her head in confusion, the reference was definitely lost on her.

Gia laughed. " Come on let's go"

The two got in Gia's car and Gia drove to the mall. After what seemed like an eternity, Gia finally found a parking spot. The mall was clearly packed with holiday shoppers.

"Hold my hand." Gia said as she offered hers palm up to Maura. "People tend to drive like maniacs this time of year." Maura grabbed her ballet bag from the car before grasping Gia's hand.

Gia looked at the bag and raised an eyebrow. "You plan on giving a recital in there or something?"

Maura smiled nervously. "I just want to carry it."

Gia shrugged. "If that floats your boat, Peanut."

"I'm not old enough to operate a boat by myself." Maura responded.

"I guess I have to cross it off of your Christmas list then," Gia responded jokingly.

Maura laughed as the two made their way into the mall.

The first store they went to was a shoe store. The store was small so Gia was able to keep an eye on Maura as she moved quickly to locate the items on Constance's list and purchase them. Maura kept her promise of keeping her eyes closed as she stood at he front of the store. Gia's plan to ensure that the presents remained a surprise proved to be successful. The next two stores were a purse store and a jewelry store which were also small. The exchanges in these two stores went as smoothly as the first one.

As they went into the next store, Maura looked at the store directly across from it, a hunting store. Maura was sure that it carried the gift she intended to buy for Gia.

"Okay Peanut, this is our last stop then we can go to the store where you want to get your mom's gift."

This store was bigger and more crowded than the other ones which made Gia kind of nervous.

"Alright Peanut stay at the front, if anything goes wrong just call out my name. I'll drop everything and come get you. But remember no peeking." Gia instructed.

Maura gave Gia a thumbs up. She then waited until Gia was in line and was thankful that the line was long. This would give her time to get Gia's gift without Gia knowing, so that it would be a surprise. Maura left the store and ran across the mall to the hunting store.

While waiting in line, Gia looked to the front or the store to make sure that Maura was still there. What she saw, or rather, what she didn't see terrified her. Maura was missing. Gia immediately dropped the items in her hands and ran out of the line. People made comments conveying annoyance but Gia blocked them out. Her heart was racing, and her stomach was in knots. She immediately ran over to the security guard who was at the front of the store. "Did you see a little girl leave the store, she has long blonde hair and hazel eyes, she was wearing black leggings and a pink dress, she's about this tall?" Gia said frantically, gesturing at a height about as tall as her hip. The security guard looked up from his crossword puzzle and shrugged.

Gia ran out of the store and carefully surveyed those walking by, looking for signs of Maura. She put her hand up to her head and her breathing was short and rapid.

"Maura... MAURA!" She screamed the little girls name over and over. The mall goers looked at Gia. Finally another security guard approached her.

"Is there something wrong ma'am?" He said with genuine concern in his voice.

"The little girl I look after has gone missing," Gia responded with tears streaming down her face.

"What does she look like?" He responded in a calm voice.

Gia gave the same description that she gave the first guard.

The security guard put his hand on Gia's shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll find her," he said trying to calm her down. "Our best bet is to stay put since it is the last place you saw her."

Meanwhile Maura was in the hunting store. She looked at the items behind the glass case.

"May I help you?" The clerk said.

"Yes please," she pointed to the item she wanted. "Can I have the green one please?"

"Aren't you a little young for one of those?" He asked.

"Oh it's not for me, it's for... My favorite person." Maura said with a huge smile.

The clerk assisted Maura with her purchase. "Well I hope this special person likes the gift, it's a great choice for anyone." He said smiling at Maura.

Maura thanked the clerk as she put the gift in her ballet bag and then left the store. She then ran quickly across to the store where Gia was. It was then that Gia spotted her.

When Gia saw Maura a wave of relief washed over her and her fears were extinguished. Maura was okay, she wasn't hurt and she wasn't kidnapped. She ran over to the little girl and wrapped her in a hug that surprised Maura. Maura could feel Gia's still quite rapid heartbeat as they hugged. She wondered why Gia was so startled and why she was crying. Gia's next emotion erupted inside of her and she was powerless to control it. Maura had disobeyed her in a very serious manner, and this made her angry. Gia broke the hug and firmly grabbed Maura by the forearms, she didn't hurt Maura but this gesture did catch the little girl's undivided attention.

"Where were you? Why did you leave the store? What were you thinking? Do you realize what could have happened to you? Someone could have grabbed you, hurt you, or even worse." Gia said in a raised voice.

Maura started crying. She wasn't sure how to respond, no one had ever yelled at her before, not even her parents. She was afraid that Gia wouldn't forgive her.

Watching Maura break down in front of her hurt Gia. She never wanted to make the little girl cry, it was just that what happened was very serious. She attempted to hug Maura again, but Maura froze up and backed away. She was too upset to let Gia hug her.

"I'm sorry that I got mad, Peanut, but I was so worried. If something bad would've happened to you, I don't know how I'd live with myself. Gia responded while looking at Maura but respecting her physical space. Maura looked back at her still very upset but she was starting to calm down.

Gia gestured to a bench near by so Maura could sit and calm down. Gia sat next to Maura. Gia remained silent and waited patiently for Maura calm down and address her. After a few minutes Maura grabbed Gia's hand and squeezed it. "I'm sorry that I scared you, Gia, I hope you don't hate me now."

"I could never hate you, you're my lil Peanut." Gia said as she awkwardly put her arm around Maura, still unsure if she would back away. Her suspicions were unfounded however as Maura moved closer to Gia welcoming the embrace. The two remained on the bench for a few moments before getting up to finish shopping for the day.

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**Thank you for reading. Reviews or PMs are always welcome as well as new follows or favorites. Hope none of you Gia fans are upset with her. Be well and have a splendid day.**


	8. Separation Anxiety

**Hello everyone, thank you once again for all of your reviews, follows, and favorites, they make my day. You are all so wonderful :) I apologize I haven't been consistent with my updates, it's a stressful time of year for me. I also apologize for any grammatical errors, I am super exhausted. This chapter is short and may seem a bit odd but it's important.**

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After Constance's installment was a hit in New York, she was asked to take it to Los Angeles for ten days, as a result, Gia stayed with Maura. With Christmas quickly approaching, Gia and Maura spent most of their free time doing holiday themed activities. They went to a few light shows, took a cookie decorating class and visited a live nativity scene. Maura never knew that Christmas time could be so fun.

Friday, December 17th 1982

Gia picked Maura up from her last day of school before winter break. Maura ran over to Gia's car. She got in and promptly handed her a Christmas wreath made from the outer part of a paper plate with green construction paper cut outs of her hands for the leaves

"I made this for you," Maura said with a smile.

"I love it, Peanut. Thank you." Gia said as she gave Maura a hug. "So your mom comes home today."

"I know, I've missed her so much, I'm so happy she's coming home for Christmas."

When the two made it back to the Isles residence, Maura was surprised to see her mother's car already in the drive way, as she was expected later that night. She quickly ran into the house, followed by Gia. She saw luggage by the door. Then she saw her mother get up from the couch and approach her.

"Hello, Darling," Constance said as she very lightly hugged her daughter while placing a kiss on each cheek. "I've missed you terribly, my dear."

Maura smiled. "It's good to see you, mommy. How was Los Angeles?"

"Absolutely dreadful, it doesn't feel like Christmas at all there. It's far too warm for this time of year."

"Do you wanna try one of the cookies I made with Gia," Maura said, standing on tip toes trying to reach into the cookie jar.

"No thank you, you know how I feel about sugar, but they look festive."

Maura started to tell her mother about all the fun Christmas activities she attend with Gia, but was cut off by her mother.

"I have a surprise for you dear, we will be spending the holiday in Brussels with your father. We both have some time off and thought that a family get away might do us all some good."

Maura had not seen her father since her birthday in August .

"When do we leave?" Maura asked.

"Immediately, our flight leaves in three hours."

"For how long?"

"Two weeks, you will be flying back on New Year's Eve, because you father and I will be going to Paris for a party. Gia, will you help Maura pack up some clothes and books?" Constance said as she walked away to make a phone call.

Maura sat on her bed as she watched Gia pick out clothes from her closet. She felt conflicted, as much as she enjoyed the idea of spending the holiday with her parents in Brussels, she also wanted to spend the holiday with Gia.

"So, what are you going to do?" Maura asked.

"Probably start a new piece, or finish one of the many I have already started." Gia said as she folded clothes and put them into Maura's suitcase.

There was silence for a few moments as each of the girls were wrapped up in the thought of how they would cope without the other around.

"Oh, I have a present for you, do you want it now?" Maura asked with excitement. Keeping the present a secret for this long was already difficult for the eager six year old.

"Why don't we wait until you come back. That way we can exchange on New Year's Eve and watch the ball drop." Gia responded. Gia had not yet purchased Maura's gift but she had a good idea.

"You're gonna let me stay up to watch the ball drop?" Maura said with delight and surprise.

"Well it's more of a challenge, Peanut, I've never seen anyone under the age of ten do it before, including myself."

"I could do it." Maura responded with confidence.

"Okay, Peanut, we'll see." Gia said with a bit of a chuckle.

"I'm going to miss you." Maura said frowning and hugging a pillow.

"I'm going to miss you too, but you are going to have so much fun in Brussels. Gia said as put her hand on the little girl's shoulder.

"It's time for us to leave, Maura" Constance called up to her daughter.

The two made their way downstairs and said their good-byes. Gia left first. As Maura and Constance were leaving Maura noticed that Gia had left her scarf behind. Seeing that Gia had already driven away, she put the scarf around her own neck and followed her mother as they got in a taxi headed for the airport.

/

Maura's parents took her sightseeing the first two days of their trip, but soon found themselves being invited out by friends who they hadn't seen in years and who didn't have children. Maura was left alone in the penthouse of their hotel. Her mother would arrange an activity for her once a day, like skiing lessons or tennis lessons. Aside from Christmas morning, she spent the rest of the vacation by herself. She wore Gia's scarf everyday, even while sleeping, it made her feel safe and a little less lonely.

/

The next fourteen days were more exciting for Gia than they were for Maura but not necessarily in a good way. Gia was confused as to what to do during her time off. She would have joined Valerie and her family, but Valerie signed up for a habitat for humanity project in South America for college credit, and wouldn't be back until the new year.

Gia was determined to not spend the holiday just hibernating in her house until Maura got back, so she continued to attend Christmas activities held by the city.

On Christmas Eve while attending a tree lighting ceremony in her neighborhood, Gia saved a little boy who ran out into a busy street by pushing him out of the vehicles way. This courageous and selfless act did result however, in her getting hit.

Saturday, December 25th 1982

A groggy Gia wakes up in Massachusetts General Hospital. She is hooked up to an IV and heart monitor.

A woman wearing a white lab coat walks into her room.

"You're awake." She says cheerfully.

"Wh-Where am I?

"In the hospital, I tried to tell you last night, but I think the pain medication made you a little, shall I say, loopy."

"Loopy?"

"Well, you called me a big Peanut."

Gia blushed a bit in embarrassment. "So what happened, why am I here?"

"You were struck by a vehicle, while saving a little boy, everyone at the nurse's station is calling you a hero." The doctor said as she approached Gia's right side. "Unfortunately the accident resulted in a broken clavicle." She continued examining the area.

"How's the little boy?" Gia asked.

"A couple of scrapes, but he's fine. The family stayed with you for some time last night." The doctor lightly touched the site of the fracture. "Are you in any pain?"

"Not at the moment." Gia answered.

"Well, you seem to have stabilized and are ready for discharge, but we were unable to contact a next of kin." The doctor responded.

"You won't, they're dead." Gia said bluntly

The doctor was slightly uncomfortable and upset. "Is there anyone else I can call?"

"The only person I know who could help is in South America right now" Gia sighed.

The doctor knowing all to well the feelings of loss and loneliness offered to help knowing that it was a boundary violation but feeling that it was the right thing to do. "I get off in two hours, I will give you your discharge instructions and take you home. If you need anything in the meantime, have the nurse page me."

"I'm sorry, I forgot your name." Gia said.

The doctor looked down noticing that she forgot to clip her identification on to her lab coat. "I am doctor Martin."

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**Reviews of course are welcome. Be well and have a splendid day :)**


	9. Apt M 2245

**Thank you all once again for anyone who reviewed, followed, or favorited. The reviews for the last chapter made me feel like a kid on Christmas morning, you are all awesome. Here is chapter nine. I hope you all enjoy. Once again, you guys are great, you make me love writing this story. I apologize for and grammatical or spelling errors.**

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In the days before Maura's return, Dr. Martin came over every day to help Gia with her recovery, as well as with simple house chores which were now difficult like doing the laundry. The doctor would also call Gia while at work to make sure she was okay. Gia was appreciative of not only the help, but the company. After spending four months in Boston, the doctor was the only person she had spent time with besides Maura. During the week they spent together, the two got to know each other rather well. Gia found a certain familiarity around her that she couldn't quite place, while Dr. Martin found Gia to be someone with whom she felt completely comfortable. Their friendship was instant.

December 31st 1982 (New Years Eve)

Gia heard a knock at her door. She answered.

"Hello, Dr. Martin," Gia said cheerfully.

"Gianna, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Hope?" The doctor responded with a slight chuckle.

"When you stop calling me Gianna," Gia responded playfully annoyed.

"It's such a beautiful name though."

"It sounds like a saints name, and I am no saint"

Hope laughed. "Well, you may not be a saint, but you're a really good person."

"That's debatable."

Hope rolled her eyes. "You risked your life for a complete stranger, that's something."

"Well, what about you, you're a doctor you save lives every day?"

The two women experienced a moment of silence, it wasn't uncomfortable, but both were definitely evaluating their worth as people, examining where they felt they had failed.

Hope had brought over breakfast for Gia, and they ate together.

As Hope went to the refrigerator to get Gia a glass of juice to take with her medicine she noticed the wreath that Maura had made hanging on the fridge. She put her hand up to one of the little cut outs of Maura's hand. "Did the little girl make this for you?"

"Yeah, isn't it great?"

"Adorable, she must really like you."

"So, any big plans for tonight Doc?"

"Probably a bunch of people with alcohol poisoning and people who were hit by drunk dri-," Hope stopped herself, she remember how Gia told her about how her family died, and wondered if her casual mention of this was insensitive.

"I hope they get to you in time," Gia sighed.

Gia looked at the time. "I have to get to the airport for work, I have to pick up the little girl."

"What? Work? I don't think so, it's only been a week." Hope replied.

"I'll be fine."

Hope tilted her hand and looked concerned. "You need to rest for a few more days, her parents will carry on just fine without you."

"She's flying alone, so I don't really have a choice, and even if I did, I'd chose to see her anyway."

"Wait, I thought she was only six?"

"Yup"

"What kind of-, I would never let my child get on a plane by herself at such a young age." Hope's own words hit like a knife to the chest, and she started to tear up.

Gia noticed the pain on her friend's face, she pulled her into a hug and said nothing. She didn't know what to say, or if there was even a right thing to say. She just tried to comfort Hope in the only way she knew how.

"Thank you, Gianna, I needed that." Hope said as the hug broke and she dried the tears from her eyes. "I know you have to go to work, even though you shouldn't, but promise me you'll take it easy."

"Trust me when the little one finds out what happened, she'll make sure I do. I don't exactly plan on telling her though, she's a bit of a worrier." Gia responded.

Hope smiled. "She sounds absolutely wonderful."

"She really is." Gia responded as she grabbed a wrapped present from the table before the two left, both going to their respective jobs.

/

By the end of her vacation Maura was very excited to go home, she got up several hours before her flight and had been packed for two days. Maura looked over her flight plan talking softly to herself.

"My flight is at seven, it's an eleven hour flight, with a six hour time difference I should be back in Boston by..." She quickly did some math in her head "Noon"

When her parents dropped her off at the airport, they said their good byes and watched as their daughter boarded the plane all by herself.

The flight did not run as smoothly as they normally do, their was a lot of turbulence and Maura was scared. She buried her face into Gia's scarf and the familiar smell of her favorite person was able to calm her down as it did for the past two weeks.

/

Gia arrived at the airport on time to pick up Maura. She thought of a funny idea and wrote "Peanut" on a piece of paper to hold up for when Maura arrived like they do in the movies. When nearly two hours had passed, Gia quickly became worried. She frantically asked the employees the status of Maura's flight to no avail. Gia paced back and forth in front of the flight arrival/departure board until she saw conformation that Maura's flight had landed safely.

When Maura got off of the plane she immediately spotted Gia and ran over to her wrapping her arms around Gia's waist in a very tight hug. Gia felt a pull around her waist and realized that Maura had fallen asleep during the hug. She bent down and picked Maura up, feeling a slight pain which would have been excruciating if Hope hadn't made her take her medication. Gia carried Maura to her car, while an airport employee helped her with Maura's luggage.

Maura slept the entire car ride home, and when they arrived back at the Isles residence Gia carried her into the house and placed her on the couch. Gia sat next to her for a bit running her fingers through Maura's hair before going to the kitchen to start dinner.

/

Maura woke up two hours later to the smell of Gia's cooking. She walked into the kitchen rubbing her eyes. She sat at the island watching Gia prepare a salad.

"I'm so sorry I passed out, I'm a bit jet lagged I guess." Maura said in a yawn.

"No worries, Peanut, how was Brussels?"

"Okay I guess, I improved my backhand." Maura shrugged. "What did you do for Christmas?"

"Uh... I spent the day in bed." Gia said.

"Your cooking smells delicious, Gia, I am starving."

"Good, because it's ready now."

Gia took the lasagna out of the oven, and fixed two plates, as well as two bowls of salad. While they were eating Maura remembered Gia's gift.

"Can I give you your present after we clean up?"

"Yes, and I have something for you too Peanut."

After they had finished dinner and cleaned up they went to the living room to exchange gifts.

"I wanna give you mine first." Maura said. She quickly ran up stairs to her room and came back down holding a perfectly wrapped box. She handed the box to Gia and danced in front of her in excitement.

Gia unwrapped the paper and opened the box to find a Swiss Army Knife.

"Wow, Peanut. I love it, thank you so much." Gia inspected the knife looking at its various features. "A reamer! This is amazing." She pulled Maura into a hug with her right arm.

"Okay, Peanut, it's your turn. Gia handed Maura beautifully wrapped box with stylish handmade bows.

Maura carefully opened her present. It was a stethoscope. She read the engraving on metal tube on the left side. "To Peanut, with love, Gia." Then she saw the engraving on the other side. "To Mommy, love G., J., C., H., and A.

"This was your mother's?" Maura asked.

"I'm sorry Peanut, I wanted to get you a brand a new one but, something came up and I didn't have enough money. You're not mad are you?"

"No, I'm not mad, I love it, but I don't want to take it from you, it was your mom's. I feel bad."

"No, Maura please don't, I'm not going to ever use it, but I thought that you might. I should have had the other engraving erased, but I... I just couldn't. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize Gia, I am honored to have something that means so much to you." Maura answered as she kissed Gia on the scar spot at her hairline.

"May I try it out on you?" Maura asked.

"Go ahead"

Maura unbuttoned the top two buttons on Gia's shirt.

"Woah, there Peanut" Gia said stopping her.

Maura rolled her eyes. "It needs to be on your skin for accuracy. Stop being immature, we're both girls, and you're still fully clothed."

Gia complied, and Maura placed chest piece on the right side of Gia's sternum at the second rib. She listened and closed her eyes. After a few moments of silence Gia spoke up. "Peanut, is everything okay?"

"Shhhhhh" Maura responded. She listened for another two minutes then opened here eyes. "Your aortic valve sounds healthy. It's such a beautiful sound, I could listen to it all day." She smiled. "Now lets try the pulmonary valve." Maura moved to the chest piece to the left side of Gia's sternum. That's when she noticed the swelling and bruising on Gia's clavicle. Gia realized this when Maura's expression changed from being happy to being upset. "What happened, who did this to you?"

"No one. It was an accident." Gia responded looking down.

"What did you do?" Maura inquired in an upset tone, as she gently pulled Gia's shirt off of her shoulder to get a better look. "It looks broken."

"I was hit by a car on Christmas Eve but I'm fine now."

"A car?" Then Maura realized something. "You picked me up! You shouldn't have done that!" Maura flicked the spot.

The pain medication had warn off and Gia eyes rolled back slightly due to the small amount of pressure, and Maura noticed.

"You're not fine." Maura said. "Where are your discharge instructions?"

Gia pointed to her bag. "In the front part."

Maura pulled out a crumbled piece of paper from the bag and sighed.

She looked over the sheet of paper. "Dr. Hope Martin. I'm calling her and telling her you put stress on your fracture."

"Peanut, no, she's busy."

Maura ignored Gia and grabbed the phone dialing the number on the paper.

"Hello, may I please speak to Dr. Martin." Maura spoke, trying to sound older than she was.

"This is Ma- Miss Isles." Maura heard the phone being passed.

"Hello, this is Dr. Martin."

Maura froze, she felt intimidated, she passed the phone to Gia.

"Hello Hope, no, no everything is fine. I'm sorry to bother you."

"Tell her what you did or, I'll flick it again." Maura said as she tried to listen in on the conversation.

Hope heard Maura. "Is that the little girl you work with? She said something happened?"

Gia sighed and said in a low voice. "I may have lifted an object over ten pounds."

Gia had to hold the phone away from her ear as Hope loudly chastised her.

Maura tried to hang on every word.

"The arm goes back in the sling." Hope said when her tone calmed down a bit.

"I don't have it." Gia answered.

"Yes, you do I packed it for you along with some of your medication, I thought you'd might forget it."

Upon hearing this Maura ran to Gia's bag and got the items.

"Yes, Hope I promise to wear it, trust me, she'll make sure I do. Have a good day at work, and again sorry to bother you." Gia hung up.

Maura helped Gia into the arm sling. "Why didn't you tell me? I thought you trusted me."

"I do Peanut, I really do but, you're only six, I don't need you to worry about me. I'm supposed to be the one who takes care of you." Gia said sincerely.

Maura went to Gia's right side and curled up next to her. "I'm allowed to care about you too, if I want." Maura said softly.

"It's not like I wasn't being careful, you know. A little boy ran into the street, he... I needed to do what I did."

Gia didn't need to go into detail, Maura knew what had happened. "I admire you Gia, you are a truly unique and kind-hearted person, and someday I hope to be just like you."

Gia put her arm around Maura and pulled her in closer. "That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." She kissed the top of Maura's head. "Why don't we make some popcorn and get ready to watch the ball drop?"

"Sounds perfect." Maura responded.

The two enjoyed the rest of their night together happy to be in each other's company again. Maura was able to stay up late enough to watch the ball drop while Gia passed out on the couch. Maura curled up next to her and fell asleep soon after.

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**Thank you for reading, reviews are welcome obviously. Here is an interesting fact, there really is a Saint Gianna. And guess what she's the patron saint of... Physicians! Interesting huh? Also National Peanut day was September 13th! I hope you enjoyed. Be well and have a splendid day.**


	10. Party of four

**Hello everyone, thank you to all who reviewed, followed or favorited. I know I say this all the time but it means a lot, and you are all spectacular. Here is chapter ten, I hope you enjoy :) I apologize in advance for grammatical errors and such.**

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After the holidays were over Constance returned to Boston and Maura returned to school. They resumed their normal schedule.

January 14th 1983 (The day before Gia's Birthday)

Gia had just put Maura to bed as Constance arrived home.

"Gia, dear, I need to ask you a favor. I know you requested off for tomorrow, but I need you stay with Maura for the rest weekend. My old college roommate is in Bridgeport from India and I haven't see her in ages. You understand?"

Gia being one of those people who couldn't say "no" agreed to Constance's request that she stay.

"I'm leaving after I pack, can you let Maura know, I don't want to wake her."

Gia nodded.

After Constance had left Gia went to wake up Maura.

Gia nudged the little girl. "Peanut, sweetheart, wake up."

Maura woke up and rubbed her eyes, surprised to see her. "You're still here?"

"Your mother left for the weekend, I'm taking you to my place."

Maura's eyes widened with excitement. "I get to see where you live."

Gia laughed a bit. "I think you're going to be a bit disappointed."

Maura packed her belongings, then she and Gia got into Gia's car.

"So... Tomorrow is my birthday." Gia announced awkwardly.

"What? Gia, why didn't you tell me? I haven't gotten you anything." Maura said with a frown.

"I'm not a fan of my birthday, Peanut, I mean it's just another day." Gia said with a sigh.

"No it's not, it's a special day, I'm going to make sure of it." Maura said with confidence.

"Well, my friend Val is coming tomorrow so you'll get to meet her."

"I can't wait." Maura said with a smile.

When they got to Gia's apartment, Gia immediately put Maura to bed in her room, as it was way past her bedtime. Then she called Val to inform her that there would be a change in plans.

"Hello," Val said.

"Hey Val"

"Birthday Girl, can't wait to see you tomorrow, you and I are going to paint the town red, my friend."

"Uh... About that..."

"No... no, no, no, You are not canceling on me."

"No Val, not canceling but we have to change our plans, I have Maura because her mother is away."

Val sighed, she wasn't mad at Maura, she was mad at Constance. "You asked for one day and she couldn't even give you that? She treats you like a machine." Val stopped herself from ranting any further. "I have an idea, I'm gonna bring my little cousin, she's about Maura's age, the four of us can do some family friendly activities and make a day of it."

"Sounds good. Thanks for understanding Val."

"No problem, G, my cousin will be so excited to see you, she missed you at Thanksgiving."

"See you tomorrow Val, I love you."

"I love you too G." Val hung up.

Gia fell asleep on her couch.

/

Saturday, January 15th 1983 (Gia's birthday)

Maura woke up before Gia and was trying to be very quiet. First, she made a phone call for a surprise for Gia, then she started to make breakfast.

Gia woke up to the smell of French toast.

"Peanut?" Gia said groggily.

Maura was still preparing breakfast. "I don't know why you said I'd be disappointed Gia, your apartment is great, I love looking at all of your pieces." Maura gestured towards Gia's artwork.

"Thanks, Peanut, at least someone likes my work." Gia said as she got up.

"No, Gia sit. I'm bringing your breakfast to you?"

"That's fine Peanut, but can I pee first?"

Maura laughed. "Of course you can void your bladder."

When Gia returned from the bathroom Maura was on the couch waiting for her with two plates of French toast on the coffee table.

"The stove isn't so hard to navigate, you know." Maura said with a smile as Gia sat next to her.

"You're getting bigger everyday, Peanut, soon you won't need me anymore."

"That doesn't mean I wouldn't want you." Maura said with a smile. "Happy Birthday, Gia, I love you," Maura said as she hugged Gia.

"Thank you, Peanut, I love you too."

The two sat and ate as Maura pointed to the various pieces in Gia's living room, making positive comments on each one. When they finished eating Maura insisted on cleaning up by herself. When she finished she was a bit exhausted from everything she had done that morning that she lay down on the couch resting her head in Gia's lap.

Gia and Maura heard a knock at the door.

Maura looked at her watched, she was surprised that her surprise for Gia had arrived so quickly, but then remembered it could also be Gia's friend.

"They must be here." Gia got up from the couch to answer the door.

"Wait, they?"

"Yeah Val and her little cousin, she's about your age, maybe a little older."

Maura started to breath funny and fan herself with her hands.

"What's wrong, Peanut?"

"You didn't tell me another kid would be coming."

"It's okay, don't be nervous, she's a pretty cool kid."

Gia answered the door, but there was only a little girl.

The messy haired haired girl in a loose ponytail ran through the door.

"BIRTHDAY PUNCHES!" the messy haired girl ran towards Gia with her fists aimed at Gia's left shoulder.

Maura quickly intercepted the punch, grabbing the other little girl's fist in her hand. Maura used her other hand to point at the other little girl. "No! There will be no Birthday punches."

The little girl looked at Maura and shrugged. She then ran like a tornado through Gia's apartment, touching everything and then started jumping on the couch. Then she jumped down and ran into Gia's bedroom and started jumping on her bed.

"Wow, what energy, I'd love to know what her heart sounds like." Maura said as started to walk to her bag to get her stethoscope.

Gia pulled the Maura back by the tail of her shirt. "Uh... Maybe later Peanut, you don't even know her name, which is Jane by the way."

"Hey, Stranger" Val said as she appeared in the doorway holding two over night bags in one hand and a bouquet of pink and purple orchids in the other. "These came for you, I caught the delivery guy when we got in, he was happy he didn't have to walk up all of these stairs." Val said in a huff.

Gia laughed. "You should have heard my movers." She hugged Val despite Valerie's full arms, and then took the flowers.

"I wonder who they're from" Gia said as she took them from Val. "They are gorgeous."

"Read the card." Maura said while doing the same dance she did when she gave Gia her Christmas present.

Gia gave Maura a look telling her that the dance was a dead give away. Gia read the card aloud. "To the amazing Gia, I'm so happy you were born, love Maura." Gia bent down and kissed Maura on top of her head. "Thank you, Peanut, you are so sweet."

Val interrupted their moment "Ummm... My cousin did come in here right?"

"Yeah she's-" Gia was about to answer as Jane ran out of her room wearing her welding goggles.

"These are freaking awesome." Jane announced as she ran over to the group.

Gia laughed. "They look good on you too." She then looked at her three guests. "Where are my manners? Let me introduce everyone. Maura this is my friend Valerie and her cousin Jane. Valerie and Jane this is my Peanut, Maura."

Maura extended her hand to Valerie first, who shook it, then to Jane.

"Handshakes are for stuffy men in business suits." Jane responded, and then pulled Maura into a bear hug. Maura was caught off guard but welcomed the hug.

When the hug broke the two girls looked at each other, like they had known each other for years.

"So... Bowling?" Val said as put her arm around Gia's waist.

"It's what I do every birthday." Gia responded giving a hip bump to her friend.

"Kids versus adults?" Jane asked excitedly as she rested her elbow on Maura's head. She looked at Maura. "That okay with you short stuff?"

Maura smiled, her nerves from earlier extinguished, she was happy to feel accepted by Gia's friends. She then remembered something that she new Gia had probably forgotten.

"Gia, your clavicle can't take the stress." Maura stated.

"Her carnival is stressed?" Jane responded confused.

"Her cla-vi-cle" Maura looked at Jane and reached up and ran her fingers over the taller girl's left clavicle. "This part."

"G, what happened to your clavicle?" Valerie said.

"Oh, it um... Broke" Gia responded.

"How?" Valerie responded in authoritatively upset tone.

Maura took over. "She was hit by a car while protecting a little boy. She's a hero."

Valerie smiled at Maura then looked at Gia. "You just can't keep yourself out of chaos, can you?"

Gia looked Valerie. "It follows me, my friend." Then Gia directed her her attention to Maura. "Peanut, I'll be fine, I bowl with my right hand, minimal stress will be placed on the left. Plus, it's my birthday, so I have to bowl."

Maura sighed knowing she would loose the argument that she wanted to start. "Fine, but you wince once and you're done." Maura said pointing at Gia.

"Shall we?" Gia said to her guests as she gestured towards the door.

"Shotgun" Jane called out, at as the group left to go bowling.

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**I plan on picking up at the bowling alley so there will be more Jane. I just wanted to get this chapter out to get my thoughts going, sorry if it's short. As always reviews are certainly welcome. Be well and have a splendid day.**


	11. 24 Candles

**Hello everyone, once again thank you for the follows, reviews, and favorites. I know I say this every time but you are all wonderful. Here is chapter 11, I think it's a little longer (for me anyway) and a lot happens. I hope you enjoy. I really tried on the grammar, all mistakes are mine and I apologize in advance.**

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January 15th to 16th 1983

Gia parked in the lot in front of the bowling alley and the four of them got out of the car. Maura was hesitant, she looked at the deep puddles from the rain the previous night.

"What's the matter, Peanunt?" Gia asked.

Maura looked down at her boots. "These are suede, I can't get them wet they'll be ruined."

Jane ran over to Maura's side of the car. "I can give you a piggy back ride." Jane turned around and moved her ponytail to the front so it wouldn't pull when carrying the six year old on her back. Maura wrapped her arms around Jane's neck and her legs around her waist. Once Maura was on her back, Jane ran through the parking lot trying to avoid as many puddles as possible, so Maura wouldn't be splashed.

"Be careful." Gia called out nervously. "Thanks for bringing her Val, Maura doesn't get to hang out with any nice girls around her age."

"Jane's happy to be here, she usually hangs with her brothers and the neighborhood boys all of the time, my aunt Ang says most of the girls are afraid of her."

Gia grabbed her friends arm and smiled as they both walked to catch up with the girls, who were jumping up and down and dancing at the entrance.

When they walked into the bowling alley, they approached the counter to get their bowling shoes.

Maura looked down at her feet and made a face of disgust. "These are so hideous."

Gia laughed. "We need them Peanut, if not you'll be slipping all over the place."

Next the four went to pick out their bowling balls. Gia, Val, and Jane made rather quick choices, while Maura took her time.

"Oh, this one is purple." She grabbed the ball unaware of the weight and fell over after she picked it up. The three rushed over to help her up. Val picked up a much lighter ball and handed it to the six year old. "I think this may be better for you." She said, as she handed the ball to Maura.

They then made their way to the designated alleys. Jane sat at the computer to enter the names. "Kids versus adults right?" She entered in Gia and Val's names at the first alley and then switched to the second one where she entered "Pea" for Maura and "Riz" for herself.

The two teams started to play. Valerie was rusty and it took her a while to get back into the grove of bowling again, while Gia was rather good but slightly handicapped due to the minimal use in her left arm. Jane was very good, she was used to bowling, because she went with her dad every Monday night after school. Maura was trying her best but seemed to be consistently throwing gutter balls.

Gia could see that Maura was frustrated and upset that she couldn't knock down any pins. She started to walk over to comfort her when she was stopped by Jane.

"Easy, Mama Bear, I got this one. Plus, she's my teammate."

Jane walked over to Maura.

Maura looked at Jane and frowned. "Are you upset that you picked me for your team?"

"What? No, of course not. But you seem to be upset."

"I just don't get it, I mean I'm calculating the physics each time I throw the ball. I'm considering the fiction, gravity and momentum. I should have hit something by now." She said in a disappointing tone.

Jane started to laugh.

"It's not funny." Maura stated defensively.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I've just never heard of anyone talking about math during bowling."

"Physics."

"Whatever. You're over thinking this kid, it's something that you have to feel. Here, let me help you." Jane grabbed Maura's ball from the return rack and approached her. She handed her the ball and got behind her doing a hand-over-hand technique to help her with the throw.

With Jane's help Maura was able to throw the ball straight down the alley knocking over nine pins. Maura jumped up and down and hugged Jane.

"Okay, kid, you've got one pin left. Remember don't think about it, just feel it."

Maura picked up her ball from the return track and approached the alley again, she followed Jane's advice and threw the ball like Jane had showed her. The other three were on the edge of their seats as Maura's ball made it's way down the alley. When it knocked down the left over pin, Jane picked her teammate up while Gia and Val clapped and cheered.

"You picked up the spare." Jane shouted.

Gia was happy to see Maura so happy and getting along with a girl her own age. She thought of the girls at Maura's school and ballet class and how mean they were to her. She didn't understand it. Maura was great and it was nice to see that a peer of Maura's could see that too.

They played for two hours, before Gia admitted that her shoulder was sore. Maura was surprised that Gia even admitted to this and was relieved that she was finally taking care of herself, even though Maura insisted on helping her back into the arm sling which she had taken the liberty of carrying in her bag, just in case Gia needed it. Out of the three games played, the adults managed to win two of them and the kids one.

"Anyone hungry?" Gia asked.

"I'm starving." Jane said holding her stomach.

"You ate three hot dogs." Maura said with confusion.

"She's a bottomless pit." Valerie joked.

Gia handed Valerie the keys. "You have to drive, because my arm is in this thing." The four got into the car and Gia directed Valerie to a diner.

When they got to the diner, it was busy, there wasn't any parking. Gia looked at the crowded diner and didn't feel like dealing with it. "Hey girls, if it's okay with you, I'd think I'd rather go back to the apartment and just have some pizza."

"It's your birthday G, so it's whatever you want." Val said smiling at her friend.

When they got back to the house, Gia ordered the pizza, while the girls settled in putting on their pajamas.

While waiting for the pizza, the girls watched television.

Gia went to the bathroom right as the delivery guy knocked on the door. Just then Maura remembered that they hadn't yet sang to Gia for her birthday, they didn't even have a cake, she felt bad, but had an idea. She began looking through all of Gia's drawers in her kitchen until she found a pack of candles. When Val put the pizza on the counter she saw that Maura had candles in her hands and knew what she was planning.

"I can't believe, I forgot about the cake, what a great idea!" Valerie said to the little girl.

"Pizza is way better than cake anyway." Jane said as she joined the other two in the kitchen.

The three worked quickly putting the candles in the pizza, lighting them, and turning the lights off, which they managed to do just in time as Gia exited the bathroom.

The three began singing "Happy Birthday."

Gia put her hand up to her heart, she was truly touched by this gesture. As she went to blow out the candles, she noticed that there were twenty-four instead of twenty-three.

Maura noticed this, almost as if she could read Gia's mind, she whispered in her ear. "The extra candle is for Allie." Gia's eyes began to water and words could not even express how much more she loved Maura in this moment. Gia blew out the candles and extended her right arm managing to bring all three girls in one big group hug. "Thank you so much."

When all of the pizza was gone, the two older girls decided that it was bed time for the two younger girls, even though the younger ones claimed that they were not tired. Gia and Valerie needed some time to catch up, just the two of them, so they put the girls to bed in Gia's room.

/

Jane and Maura remained awake lying in Gia's bed. Maura looked at the picture on the bedside table which featured five kids sitting concrete steps in front of a house. The one who appeared to be oldest was sitting on the top step with each child being younger as the steps went down. Maura immediately recognized Gia at the top step. She picked up the picture and showed it to Jane.

Jane looked at the picture. "How old do you think Gia is here?"

Maura looked at the picture and pointed to the child on the bottom step. "I think this is Allie, she looks about one year old, which would make Gia eight.

"I just turned eight in October." Jane responded.

Maura kept looking at the picture, she pointed to the girl just below Gia. "This must be Jess, she looks about my age."

Jane pointed at the boy and girl between Jess and Allie. "Then they must be Corey and Heather."

Maura looked at Jane "Gia's never mentioned them to me before, did you know them?"

"No." Jane responded and then turned on her side.

Maura returned the picture to the bedside table, and the two lay in silence for a few moments before Jane continued.

"I couldn't imagine what it must have been like for her, or what it's even like for her now, losing your whole family like that."

Maura poked Jane who turned around to face her. Then she asked the question she was too afraid to ask Gia. "Do you know how it happened?"

Jane sighed and looked at the younger girl. "You really don't want to know kid, I really wish I didn't."

"Did Gia tell you?" Maura asked.

"No I over heard my mom and Val talking about it at Thanksgiving this year. I knew that her family had died, I just didn't know how." Jane responded.

"It was a car accident." Maura stated.

Jane looked at Maura with watery eyes. "It was a tractor trailer, the man driving it was drunk, Jess, Allie and her parents died on impact. Corey and Heather were still alive when the ambulance arrived, but severely injured. Corey died moments before Gia got to the hospital, she held Heather's hand while she died."

Maura started to cry when she heard this, Jane was right, she wished she didn't know. She imagined how hard it must have been for Gia to watch Heather die.

Seeing the little girl next to her upset, Jane pulled Maura close and held her, they fell asleep this way.

/

Valerie and Gia sat on the couch after putting the two girls to bed.

"Maura is great isn't she? I really liked how she got along with Jane today. She was so nervous, but your cousin is really sweet."

Valerie smiled and looked at her friend and sighed. "I'm worried about you, G."

"Why?"

Valerie took in a deep breath and then exhaled. "I don't want this to be a repeat of Rhode Island."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gia responded defensively.

"You're getting too attached." Valerie responded sympathetically.

Gia started to get upset at her friend. "Well what do you expect, I'm all she has."

"That's not true, she has parents, but I'm beginning to think that you see her as all you have, like you did with the children you nannied for in Rhode Island. You can't keep doing this to yourself, what's going to happen when you stop working with her? When the family from before moved to Texas you cried in your bed for nearly two months, you barely attended class and your grades slipped." Valerie explained.

"This time is different." Gia responded.

"I know, it's worse."

Gia started to get mad. "You don't get to do this Valerie, you don't get to come here and tell me how to live my life. You left me and changed schools freshman year when I needed you most."

"You're the one that moved to Boston after graduation, we were finally going to get an apartment together, then you decided that you needed to go." Valerie snapped back.

"I couldn't handle it, you had just been accepted to grad school, and I... I was rejected from six grad school programs and I had lost my job." Gia started crying.

Valerie approached her friend and did something she had wanted to do for a while, she kissed her. Gia was caught off guard but didn't back away. When the kiss broke, Gia wasn't crying anymore but there was a look of shock on her face. Valerie took Gia's look face and assumed that Gia was upset by her actions. She kept repeating "I'm sorry" several times with no response from Gia who was speechless. Valerie's discomfort grew rapidly and she left Gia's apartment. It wasn't until Valerie was halfway down the hallway of her apartment complex that Gia started calling her name. Valerie felt rejected and was too embarrassed to go back.

Gia lay on her floor of her apartment staring at the ceiling and thinking about the kiss. It didn't feel weird or wrong, but she was confused, she had never thought of Valerie in that way before. Her musings were interrupted when she heard a knock at the door. Figuring it was Valerie she sprang up, and ran to the door, when she opened it she was surprised to see Hope standing there.

"Hello Gianna, happy birthday!" Hope said as she approached her friends right side greeting her with a hug.

"Thank you, Hope, I didn't know you knew it was my birthday."

"I remembered it from reading your chart, and I thought I'd surprise you." Hope was holding a small white bakery box in one hand and some wine in the other. "Sorry, I'm here so late, but I just got done a double, I figured you'd be up anyway seeing as how you never sleep." She handed Gia the bakery box. "The cupcake is for you, the wine is for me."

"Hey, I'd like some wine too." Gia said with a slight whine.

"Did you take any pain medication today?"

"No."

Hope walked over to Gia and flicked her left clavicle.

"Ouch, why does everyone think that this an okay thing to do?"

Hope smiled. "I wanted to make sure you weren't lying." She poured two glasses of wine. Then the two sat on the couch.

"How has your birthday been so far?"

"Well, it was going great until about an hour ago."

"Oh really, what happened?"

Gia was nervous about telling Hope what happened between her and Valerie, but she was so overwhelmed by what had happened that she had to tell someone.

Hope's reaction was more accepting than Gia had anticipated, since her brother was gay Hope wasn't weirded out by same sex relationships. "So, how do you feel about it?"

"I don't know, I mean, I love Valerie, and the kiss wasn't weird it was kind of nice, I'm just surprised is all."

"It's okay to feel the way you feel, I'm here for you Gia." Hope smiled at her friend.

The two continued talking for an hour until Hope saw that Gia kept yawning, she too was also tired, having worked a double shift. Gia asked her to stay and have breakfast with everyone in the morning which Hope would have accepted if she didn't have work so early. Shortly after they said their good byes Gia fell asleep on the floor leaving the couch open for Valerie when she returned.

/

Two hours later as dawn approached Valerie quietly walked back and entered Gia's apartment still having Gia's car keys in her pocket from earlier. She went into Gia's room and woke Jane.

She whispered. "We have to leave."

Jane sat up rubbed her eyes and looked at her cousin. "Why?"

"Shhhh, you'll wake Maura." Valerie said putting her finger to her lips. "Please just grab your stuff we've got to go."

Jane did as instructed and the two made a quiet exit.

/

An hour later Maura woke up and realized that Jane was missing. She ran out to wake up Gia.

"She's gone, she's gone." Maura said shaking Gia.

Gia looked around and noticed that the overnight bags were missing and assumed that they had left. Gia tried to cover up for their disappearance without worrying Maura. "Oh I guess they had leave early, maybe Jane had a hockey game or something." She put her hand on the girls shoulder. "Let's go get some breakfast."

The two got dressed and left the house in search of Belgian waffles.

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**I hope you liked it. Reviews are certainly welcome, I'd like to know your reactions to this chapter, but no pressure. Thank you for reading. Be well and have a splendid day.**


	12. Lullaby

**Hello everyone, thank you all for your for your reviews, follows, and favorites. You are all amazing. I had a crappy week at work which drained my creativity for a while. If this chapter seems off at all I apologize, but I wanted to get it out there to make my updates consistent. I still love writing this story, it's what got me through for the past couple of days. I hope you enjoy.**

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Constance was home more consistently after Gia's birthday weekend since she started teaching the spring semester at Boston University. Gia didn't have to work as late during the week, often being dismissed around dinner time when Constance would come home. Maura would have been upset about this, if it wasn't for the fact that they spent every weekend together, because Constance always had out of town plans. In Maura's mind she had the best of both worlds, more time to spend with her mother, while having the weekends just her and Gia. Constance was often busy when she came home from work, and she didn't spend much quality time with Maura who was just happy that she was there even if it meant watching her grade papers.

Gia and Valerie hadn't spoke since the early morning hours, the day after her birthday, when they kissed. Gia tried to reach out to Valerie, calling her and sending letters but she didn't get a response. Maura also asked about Valerie because she wanted Jane's number. Gia explained to the little girl that Valerie was busy with school, which Maura accepted because she knew how busy her mother was. Since Gia had more free time, she spent a lot of it with Hope. The doctor enjoyed Gia's company immensely and was always happy to see her friend passed out on her couch when she came home after work. After giving Gia a key, her friend was over all of the time, which cured the loneliness that harbored her existence for the past few years.

/

Friday, February 11th 1983

Gia was late getting to the Isles residence which was making Constance late for work. Maura was already up and fixed herself some oatmeal. She was surprised that Gia was late because it was out of character, and she began to worry as she often did. She was relieved when she saw Gia's car pull up.

"Gia you're late." Constance chided as she passed Gia on the walkway heading to her car.

"I'm really sorry, I hit some traffic." Gia responded apologetically.

Constance could see that Gia appeared restless like someone who had stayed up all night and her next comment was based on that assumption. "I know that you're young and that you go out at night, but you have to be responsible. I know this the first time so I'll let it slide, also I won't be back until Tuesday night because I'm going to London to meet my husband for Valentine's Day."

"Okay, and again, I'm really sorry."

Gia walked into the Isles house as Maura's school bus arrived, Maura quickly washed her bowl in the sink and grabbed her school bag from the counter. She walked over to Gia, grabbed her hand an squeezed it. "I'm sorry my mom was short with you, she's teaching a lot of classes this semester, I think she's having a tough time adjusting from her sabbatical. There's coffee in the kitchen if you want some but I hope you decide to nap instead."

Gia just smiled at her, she had a rough night and it was taking a toll on her.

Maura walked to the door to leave, turned around quickly and ran back to Gia and hugged her.

"What was that for, Peanut?"

"It just looked like you needed one, that's all." Her bus began to beep. "I have to go the bus driver is very impatient. Take that nap" she shook her finger at Gia, "Doctor Peanut's orders." Then she exited her house to board her bus.

Gia looked at her watch, Hope was done work in an hour and Gia promised she'd stop by to talk about how last night went. She walked to the kitchen and had a cup of the coffee Maura mentioned, to get her through the drive to Hope's place.

/

When she got to Hope's house she plopped down on her couch. This action caused her to knock a book off of the coffee table, when she picked it up, a photo fell out. She picked up the photo and looked at it, her expression quickly changed from one of exhaustion to one of sadness. The photo depicted her friend in a hospital bed holding a newborn, she looked really happy. Gia remembered what Hope had told her about having a baby that died shortly after birth, but didn't go into much detail. She had no idea that Hope was so young. Then Gia heard commotion coming from outside and figured the doctor had come home, she quickly and carefully put the picture back in the book and lay on the couch.

Hope entered the house. "Hello, Gianna." She walked over to her friend and tapped her head. Gia got up and Hope sat down, Gia's head fell on Hope's lap and she sighed.

"That bad, huh?" Hope addressed her friend.

Gia was silent.

"What did she say?" Hope continued.

"I didn't get a chance to ask, because I didn't see her. She's clearly avoiding me. Her friends made excuses. I looked around for her on campus and off campus, I felt like a stalker. To add insult to injury, I ran into some former classmates who were all in grad school or working at a studio. I felt like a failure. I never want to go Rhode Island again."

"I'm really sorry, Gianna. People are complicated and scared. Also, you shouldn't compare yourself to others." Hope tried to offer in consolation.

"It's okay I guess, but I don't want to talk about it anymore. How was your day?"

"He came in today, with flowers, I haven't seen him in three years." Hope said flatly.

Gia immediately knew who Hope was talking about, the only man she ever mentioned, the one she referred to as the true love of her life. "Oh yeah?"

"He asked me out for tomorrow night. I probably shouldn't go, but we have so much history, we've been through so much together."

"What did you tell him?" Gia inquired as she sat up to be more attentive to her friend.

"That I'd let him know. What do you think?"

"I think that you need to do what your heart tells you to do. You may get hurt but at least you'll have no regrets."

"I think, it's a little late for the no regrets for me."

"I'm sorry Hope, I wasn't thinking."

"It's okay Gianna, really, I appreciate your help. You're a really good friend, you don't run away when things get messy, that's really important to me." She then looked at her friend who was clearly exhausted. "Driving all night with no sleep is not good for you, please take a nap."

"You're worse than the little girl I work with, well actually you're about the same." Gia said as she lay her head on the pillow. Soon after she was in a deep sleep.

Gia woke up after a four hour nap, and hour before she had to pick Maura up from school. She wasn't fully rested but she did feel slightly refreshed. Hope exited her bedroom wearing a dress.

"I was just about to wake you. What do you think of the dress?" She did a cute pose.

"Wow, you look beautiful, I've only seen you in scrubs and pajamas, you clean up nicely my friend."

Hope smiled at Gia. "Thank you, I called him back and said yes."

"Well I consider him one lucky guy." Gia responded.

Hope looked at the time. "You better get going, you're going to be late."

"Okay, but I wanna here all about it." She gave Hope a hug then left to pick up Maura.

/

Gia waited outside of school for Maura. She heard the bell ring and watched a mob of children exit the school. The little girl was always the last one out of the building. She took her time, taking in her surroundings, her campus was beautiful and she admired that, even in the dead of winter with no leaves and hardly any animals, she loved it. As Gia watched her amble towards her car she hoped that Maura would never lose the thoughtful way she viewed the world.

"Hello, Gia." Maura said as she got into Gia's car.

"Hiya, Peanut, how was your day."

"Great, I aced my math test." She reached into her bag and pulled out a piece of paper with a sticker and a note that said "great job".

"This is wonderful, Peanut" She gave Maura a high five.

"Celebratory dance party?" Maura asked as she turned on Gia's radio and danced to the music.

Gia laughed and the two made their way back to the Isles residence singing and dancing to the radio.

When they arrived Maura and Gia went into the house and Maura changed out of her uniform and Gia went into the kitchen to start dinner.

While enjoying Gia's homemade macaroni and cheese Maura asked whether or not Gia took that nap.

"Well, I went over my friends house, the doctor, she made me take a nap, you'd like her, you two think the same."

"She sounds nice, maybe I can meet her one day." She smiled. "Now you should go to sleep, you need to get your circadian rhythm back on track."

"I'm kind of tired but I don't think I can sleep now." Gia admitted.

"Nonsense, I have an idea, go up to the guest room and I'll meet you there in five minutes."

Gia did as Maura requested and five minutes later Maura entered the room with her violin.

"Okay, lay down and close your eyes."

Maura sat on the foot of the bed and took her violin out of her case. "I'm going to play a song that should have a soporific effect on you." She placed her violin under her chin, drew her bow across the strings, and started to play Brahms lullaby. After the second round of playing the song she could see that Gia was fast asleep. Maura was proud of herself, she walked over to her sleeping nanny and friend and kissed her forehead. "Good night, Gia." Then she made her way to her room to read before retiring to bed herself because she an early ballet practice the next morning.

/

Saturday, February 12th 1983

Gia woke up the next early the next morning feeling well rested. She smiled to herself remembering how Maura played her a lullaby and how adorable it was. She looked at the time and was happy that she was able to fix Maura a nice breakfast before her ballet class. She walked down stairs to the kitchen to make pancakes, she used the cookie cutters they bought after they took the cookie decorating class to make star and heart shaped pancakes.

Maura came down stairs dressed in her tights and leotard just as Gia was finishing her cooking.

"It smells great, Gia." Maura never ceased to be amazed a Gia's skill in the kitchen.

"That would be my homemade blueberry syrup, we were out of maple syrup so I decided t make this."

The two ate together making small talk, happy just to be around each other. After finishing breakfast they cleaned up and Gia drove Maura to ballet.

When they arrived at the studio Gia walked in with Maura. Maura joined her class and Gia sat far away from the mothers who she had not seen since her last encounter with them. A few moments later one of the mothers approached her.

"Hi, I'm Rachel, Hannah's mother, we took her to the doctors. The mole was precancerous and we had it removed. It was really scary. I just wanted to thank you so much for letting me know."

Gia stared directly at the woman. "Well, you should be thanking Maura, you know the "little freak" and not me."

The woman winced at her own choice of words that described the little girl that day. "I'm sorry, that wasn't one of my proudest moments, actually Hannah and Maura have been getting along lately, and I was wondering if you would like to join us later. I promised Hannah we'd go to the Pizza Pit after her lesson. She asked me if Maura could come this morning."

"If it's okay with Maura, it's okay with me." She told the woman, who took a seat next to her away from the other mothers as well. The two watched the girls practice.

After practice was over Maura ran over to Gia with Hannah.

"Gia, can we go to the Pizza Pit with Hannah and her mom?"

"Sure, Peanut."

They four exited the studio getting into their respective cars, and Gia followed Hannah and her mother to their destination.

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**Reviews are most certainly welcome. I hope you liked it. I plan on picking up with the Pizza Pit trip. I am really enjoying the friendship between Gia and Hope, (I really like Hope in general) it will all make sense in the end. Thank you for reading. We still have a fair amount of chapters to get through.**

**Be well and have a splendid day!**


	13. Kids

**Whew! Okay. Let me start by saying thank you once again for any reviews, follows, and favorites, you all are so wonderful. Next I want to apologize, stress from work plus writers block is never a good combination, and I hope I haven't lost any of you. Here is chapter 13 I apologize in advance for any mistakes.**

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Saturday, February 12th 1983 (continued)

As the four entered the Pizza Pit, Hannah grabbed Maura by the hand and started to run to the arcade area. Rachel called her daughter back.

"Hannah, sweetie, you'll have a hard time playing any games without these." She handed Hannah a bag of tokens.

"Thanks, mom," she replied and she and Maura ran towards the games.

Maura followed her friends lead which took her to a skee-ball machine.

"You ever play before," Hannah asked as she handed Maura a token.

"No, I can't say that have." Maura responded.

"It's easy, just watch me." Hannah put her token in the machine and pressed the start button. After the balls dropped, she picked one up, rolled the ball towards the target, and scored thirty points. "Yes! Now you try."

Maura followed suit and ended up scoring forty points. Hannah smiled at Maura. "Is that good," Maura asked.

"Yeah, you are doing great," Hannah responded putting her arm around Maura.

The two continued playing arcade games while Gia and Rachel ordered the pizza and sat in the both talking.

"You're really great with Maura, how long have you been nannying?"

"About five months with Maura, but five years total with other families."

"Only five months with Maura? You two have a really strong bond."

"Well, she's a really good kid."

"So... When are you going to have one of your own?"

Gia laughed. "Ah... Not anytime soon, if at all."

"Well you are young yet, you don't have to decide today."

Gia was thankful that the conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the pizza followed by the kids returning.

"Did you two enjoy yourselves," Rachel asked the girls.

"Yeah, Maura and I got so many tickets at Whack-A-Mole," Hannah responded as Maura held up a fist full of tickets.

Maura sat next to Gia and Rachel sat next to her mother and the four ate their pizza.

"Henry will be so jealous that we came here," Hannah announced. She looked at Maura, "Henry is my little brother, he's four, and he's having a "boys" day with my dad." She then turned to her mom with excitement. "Hey mom, can Maura sleepover?"

"It's okay with me if it's okay with Gia."

"It's okay with me, if Maura wants to do it." Gia looked at Maura who seemed to be uncertain. Gia nodded "yes" to Maura encouraging her to say "yes" too.

"Sure," Maura replied.

As the four finished at the Pizza Pit, Rachel and Hannah drove back to their house after giving Gia directions. Gia drove Maura back to the Isles residence to pack.

/

During the ride home Maura revealed her nervousness about the night.

"This is my very first sleepover, what do I do?"

"Actually, you sleeping at my apartment when Valerie and Jane came to visit was your first sleepover. So this is your second time, you're a pro now."

"How are they by the way?"

Gia didn't have an answer to that question so she just changed the subject. "We should make a list so you don't forget anything. You can grab a pen and paper from the glove compartment."

"No need, I can keep it all in here," Maura pointed to her head.

Gia started spouting off the items, "Pajamas, change of clothes for tomorrow, toothbrush..."

When the two arrived back at the Isles residence they quickly packed Maura's overnight bag and Gia drove Maura to Hannah's house.

As Gia helped Maura into her friend's house, she gave the little girl her phone number which Maura put in her coat pocket. Rachel assured Gia that she would take good care of Maura, and Hannah assured Maura that she had a fun night planned.

After getting Maura settled, Gia left to return to her car. Shortly after, she saw Maura running towards her. When Maura got to the car she was out of breath.

Gia put her window down. "Is everything okay, Peanut," she was concerned.

Maura responded while breathing heavily, "I... almost.. forgot," she held up and index card sized paper to Gia while catching her breath. "It's a ticket to my recital, you'll come right?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," she smiled at Maura. "Now get back inside it's too cold."

Maura smiled at her nanny and ran back inside.

/

Maura and Hannah spent most of the night playing with dolls and Hannah's little brother, Henry. Henry took a liking to Maura, following her every move while they played. Maura couldn't help but feel slightly jealous, Hannah had both of her parents living with her and an adorable little brother. The three played together until it was bedtime.

As the two lay in Hannah's bed talking about dance class they heard muffled sounds coming from downstairs. Hannah's parents had begun fighting.

Hannah looked at Maura with embarrassment, she knew Maura could hear them. When she couldn't face her anymore, Hannah turned away from Maura and stared at the wall.

Maura felt bad for Hannah. "Do they fight a lot?"

Hannah sighed, "Every night since I can remember. It's usually not this loud though."

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, followed by a slow open, and a small blonde head peeking through.

"Come in, Henry," Hannah turned to Maura and whispered, "Do you mind if he stays in here with us?"

Maura shook her head "no".

"Come on up, Buddy," Hannah said as she patted the bed.

The sandy haired, four year old ran and jumped on his sister's bed placing himself between the two girls. Henry coiled his fingers around Maura's hair. "Hannah can you sing the song?"

Hannah began singing a silly song she made up for Henry to drown out the muffled sounds of her parents fighting. By the time she was finished, Henry was asleep.

"Do you think you'll every have kids when you grow up, Maura?"

Maura was caught off guard by the question and remained silent, carefully trying to figure out how to respond.

Hannah continued, "I don't think I will, I like kids, I mean... I really love my brother, but if it's not working out with me and my husband, I wouldn't want my kids hearing us fight."

Maura answered next. "I don't know if I will either, but if I do, I'm going to make sure I'm there for them."

The two fell silent after their conversation, eventually falling asleep.

/

Late, Saturday, February 12th 1983 to Early, Sunday, February 13th 1983

Gia lay on her couch watching television when she heard a key in the lock of her door followed by it opening. Hope stumbled in, already drunk, holding a bottle of bourbon, and not saying a word. She made her way to Gia's kitchen and searched through her cabinets for a shot glass. When she found what she was looking for she poured the bourbon in the glass and knocked it back. She repeated this one more time before offering Gia a shot.

Gia took the shot glass and sipped from it, while Hope took a swig from the bottle.

"So... How did it go," Gia asked already knowing the answer wasn't going to be favorable.

"The bastard never showed up, I waited around for two hours. I looked like a fool." Hope took another swig from the bottle.

"Maybe you should slow down a bit." Gia suggested.

Hope ignored Gia's suggestion and continued to take a longer swig. When she finished she put the bottle down. "Who does he think he is? Coming into my life just to ruin it when ever he wants."

Gia listen to her friend continue to vent her frustrations.

"I know it's complicated, I know I'm complicated...but we have history, painful, serious history, and... I don't know... I don't know why he doesn't give me the respect I deserve." Hope took another swig of bourbon. "My baby is dead... The life that we created together." Hope starts crying. "... Is dead... And he doesn't even care."

Hope covered her mouth and ran into the bathroom. She threw up in the toilet. Gia followed her and held her hair back as she continued to heave. Hope put her head down on the toilet seat.

"The room is spinning," Hope expressed timidly as her eyes began to water due to the stress she was putting her body through.

Gia grabbed a towel and put it around Hope who was shaking from a cold sweat. She then grabbed a washcloth and wiped Hope's forehead. Gia watched with pain in her eyes as her dear friend's entire body tensed as she started to violently vomit again. Gia sat on the ground behind her friend and carefully gathered Hope's hair into a loose ponytail. Hope continued a cycle of vomiting for a few seconds and then stopping all the while with Gia rubbing her back trying to comfort her.

"Hope, I think you might have alcohol poisoning, I'm going to call 911." Gia got up to get the phone but stopped when she felt a week pull on her pant leg.

"Please don't, they'll send me to my hospital, I can't have my colleagues see me like this, I could get fired."

"...But Hope you're in really bad shape."

"I'm fine. I'm fine. I just need to get it all out of me." Hope lay her head on the toilet seat waiting for the next round of vomiting to begin.

Gia reluctantly accepted the doctor's plea. "Okay, but I'm staying with you," she sighed.

After about two more rounds of vomiting Hope fell asleep sitting up against the toilet seat. Gia did not want to move her, knowing that any movement could cause her friend more discomfort or nausea. Gia leaned against the tub keeping an eye on her friend as she slept.

Two hours later Hope woke up to Gia quietly reading a magazine.

"Oh my God, my head is throbbing, I'm dehydrated."

Gia quickly got up and grabbed a cup from the sink, filled it with water, and handed it to Hope.

"Thank you," Hope said as she took small sips until it was finished. "Do you mind if I take a shower?"

"Sure, but are you going to be okay?"

"I'm a little weak, but, I'm sober, so I should be able to manage."

"Alright, I'm going to get you a towel and some comfortable clothes."

When Gia left, Hope stood up and washed her mouth out at the sink. She was thankful that Gia had mouthwash so she could rid herself of the taste of bourbon and bile.

While Hope was taking a shower, Gia entered and placed the clothes and towels on the sink for Hope then exited the bathroom waiting for her friend on the couch.

After Hope finished her shower she exited the bathroom and went into the living room. Gia got up from the couch and walked to the kitchen. "You should lie down," she gestured towards the couch. When Gia returned to the living room she brought a bucket, two aspirin, and a glass of water. She put the bucket on the floor beside Hope, "This is just in case." Then she handed the doctor the two aspirin and glass of water. "You're off tomorrow right?"

"Yes," Hope replied before taking the pills. She made a face as they went down, "Thank God." Hope then lay back down putting her head on the pillow and Gia sat with her back to her friend leaning against the couch.

"Maybe something came up and he couldn't come," Gia offered in consolation.

"Yeah, he's good for that," Hope started playing with Gia's hair, "It's getting so long." She sighed. "I don't know why I keep letting him back in when all he ever does is break my heart."

"Because you love him."

"I wonder if things would have been different if she lived... If he would have been different."

"I couldn't even image what that must have been like for you."

"I think about her everyday, my therapist told me that it would pass... It hasn't. I lied to her and told her that it did."

"I think that's a ridiculous assumption for her to make in the first place."

Hope shrugged, "You ever think you'll have kids, Gianna?"

Gia paused, surprised that she was asked this question twice that day.

Hope continued, "I still consider myself a mother, but I don't think I can have anymore children. The thought of going through it again, all of it, just scares me." Hope continued to play with Gia's hair. "I really like it this long."

"Thank you." Gia replied sincerely. "But I thinking about cutting it about shoulder length."

"Don't," Hope replied, twirling a section between her fingers. At that point the conversation shifted to regrettable hairstyles of their past before both fell asleep where they were.

/

Sunday, February 13th 1983

Gia woke up an hour and a half later to her phone ringing.

"Hello?"

"Gia, hi, it's Rachel."

"What's wrong? Is everything okay? I wasn't supposed to get Maura till noon, right?"

"Maura is okay, maybe just a little shaken up, she fainted this morning, after telling me she didn't feel well, she said she just wants to go home."

"Okay, tell her I'll be right there."

Gia turned and woke up Hope. "Hey Doc, I'm leaving, the little Peanut got sick at her sleepover, you may stay as long as you like, I'll see you later."

Hope responded still half asleep, "Thank you Gianna, you're such a good friend, I love you."

Gia laughed, "I love you too Hope."

/

When Gia pulled up to Hannah's house she didn't even need to beep. She watched Maura hug her friend as she exited the house and run to her car. Gia waved to Rachel and Hannah when they waved to her from their doorstep.

"Not feeling so well huh, peanut."

"Actually, I'm okay"

"You fainted, Peanut." She put her hand on the little girl's forehead. "And you're all red."

"I lied"

Gia looked confused.

Maura elaborated, "I wanted to leave earlier than I was supposed to so, I told Hannah's mom that I felt sick but it was a lie."

Gia was still confused.

Maura continued. "The vasovagal syncope is a side effect of when I lie, I also get hives."

"Did something happen that made you not want to stay?"

Maura felt bad about telling Gia about Hannah's personal business but lying about it would only cause another episode so she told the truth. "Her parents were fighting last night, it was uncomfortable to see them this morning. I'd rather not discuss it further. How was your night, you look exhausted?"

"No comment, Peanut. Are you hungry?"

"Yes, very much so."

The two went to a bagel shop and picked up breakfast before returning to the Isles residence. When they got to their destination the two sat in the dining room eating their breakfast across from each other.

"Do you want kids, Gia?"

"What is with this question all of the sudden?"

Maura looked confused.

Gia digressed. "I don't know if I can." She took a sip of her coffee.

Maura looked at Gia. "Well I'm sure you can, you are healthy, you have plenty of viable eggs, and I bet your reproductive organs would perform ideally in the given situation."

Gia reacted as she swallowed and started to choke a bit on the coffee, coughing profusely.

Maura got up from her seat and sat next to Gia patting her back. "You okay?"

"Yeah it went down the wrong pipe, I'm not used to people discussing my reproductive organs so candidly."

"Ah, pulmonary aspiration, and I don't see what the big deal is, reproduction is a part of life, it's why you and I are here right now."

"Very well, Peanut, it's just weird that... Never mind. Let me rephrase my answer, I don't know if I will."

Maura looked sad. "Why not?"

"I just don't think, I'd be any good."

"You're great with me, Gia."

"You're different, Peanut."

"Well, I hope you reconsider, I think it would be a disservice to the world if you didn't get to be a mom. Plus, I'd love to see some mini Gias, they'd be so cute."

Gia smiled. "No where near as cute as little Peanuts would be, but you're not allowed to date until you're thirty." Gia shook her finger at the little girl who giggled.

The two spent the rest of the day reading books and watching movies until it was time for Maura to go to bed.

* * *

**I know there wasn't a lot of just Maura and Gia time but, next chapter should be. I hope you all are still liking this story. I have about six more chapters planned. Review if you'd like, they make my day.**

**Be well and have a splendid day :)**


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